Students learn to lead by example

By JULIE MIDDLETON

School students have been flocking to meetings all over the country aimed at inspiring them to become great leaders.

More than 3000 primary, intermediate and secondary students gathered at two seminars in each of Christchurch, Wellington and Auckland between April 29 and last Tuesday to glean insights aimed at boosting their leadership skills.

Sporting stars Bernice Mene, authors Joy Cowley and Ian Grant, Warehouse founder Stephen Tindall and MP Pansy Wong are among the local luminaries who shared their recipes for success at the day-long functions, aimed at a cross-section of students and run by the Young Leaders Foundation.

Its national director is Annette Johnson, who ran the first National Young Leaders Day last year.

"We want to provide young people with inspiration to become great leaders, not necessarily famous people," she says. "You don't have to be famous to be a good leader."

Schools were encouraged to send young people with leadership potential; the cost for each was $40.

The focus of the day-long seminars is story-sharing from people well-known in sport, arts, politics and business.

Adds one of the eight members of the organising committee, Kath Price: "Speakers share a bit about where they have come from, how to deal with failure ... that's how you learn about leadership."

Questions are encouraged. "We live in a country limited a bit by the tall poppy syndrome," says Price. "We want people to achieve but when they do we're very prepared to pick fault. If you've got a dream to be an All Black or the PM, go for it.

"Part of it [leadership] is taking on the aspect of raising ... other mates around you to be great as well."

Johnson imported the idea from Australia, where the Young Leaders Foundation is an Australian not-for-profit company, founded in Sydney in 1995 to work with education departments on personal development, health, life skills and leadership.

Johnson, whose background is in event management and who runs the organising company, Ace Management, says that she has "always had an interest in development of leaders but also inspiring people to do well at what they want to do. It's not just an event, it's something I'm passionate about."

She says that any surplus from the days is set aside for the following year: "We can't rely on our sponsors giving the same amount of money each year."

The sponsors this year were Readers' Digest and Auckland University of Technology, which will give eight fully-funded three-year scholarships for any course of study, chosen from among those who attended one of the days. Winners will be announced on June 30.

Teachers are impressed by the opportunity offered. Ronan Bass, head of leadership at Massey High School, sent 23 students last year, 140; the school paid.

Among the chosen were all student council members, prefects, and senior sports captains.

Bass says such an opportunity gives students "an opportunity to see people in different areas - such as politics, the arts and sports - using their leadership skills. They [students] can see where they can go with them. And it gives them the confidence to take on other roles."

* The board of trustees of the Young Leaders Foundation is Josh Phillips (contract manager, Skill New Zealand); Denise Krum (social policy background); Matt Martin (Founder of Young Leaders Foundation in Australia) and Geoff Strong (Australian lawyer).

Yellow Ribbon crusaders

Fraser High School student Amber Green, 17, didn't waste any time once she'd attended last year's Young Leaders Day in Auckland. Within months, she had running in the Hamilton school an off-shoot of the suicide prevention group Yellow Ribbon.

The 60 sixth and seventh form students who now work with Yellow Ribbon at the school have been taught how to help peers who may be feeling down and in need of help.

They wear badges to be easily identifiable. "Sometimes your friends are not the people to talk to [about personal problems]," says Green. "But sometimes all you need is an ear."

Last year's Young Leaders Day speaker who stood out for Green, now a seventh-former and deputy head girl, was policeman Nick Tuitasi, well-known in the Auckland suburb of Mt Roskill for his work with young people.

"He was so inspirational," she says. "He's picked a lot of youth off the ground, got them back to school."

The experience gave her "so much motivation to get together anything we want to get together, and not to stand back and let everything slide.

"Some of the people speaking had done a hell of a lot in their lives, and they were all big achievers."

Shane Singh, a dean at Fraser High, says speakers were "on the mark, they had great conversations with the kids. It gives them extra self-belief, and useful advice to help them go and do something."

For further information phone 524-4475 or
email newzealand@youngleadersfoundation.org.