The Full Potential Of Youth Leadership Is Surprisingly Old

Perry Maddox explains what the journey of youth leadership toward its highest, intergenerational impact means for leaders of all ages.

I forget how many buildings they asked me to leave.

A little over a decade ago, the Government of Uganda created a national development plan to guide government budgets, donor investment, and the national direction of travel.

Consultations were held across many sectors and demographic groups. From agriculture to mining, from women to people living with HIV and AIDS. But the 70% of the population under 30 years of age?

They weren’t invited.

Eventually, we did get young people into that process, but not without being shown the door many times. Thirteen years later, as I joined a panel today at the Citizens International Youth Summit I thought to myself:

How things have changed.

Youth Leadership must be Intergenerational.

Youth leadership and participation shot up the agenda over recent decades.

Interestingly, the rise in youth in the global agenda parallels the progression from non-participation  to full youth participation explained in the classic framework, Hartt’s ladder of youth participation.

• At first, youth couldn’t get into the room.  Not long ago, half the world’s population was effectively ignored, viewed as problems to solve or passive beneficiaries to reach. But over time, and through the power of countless young leaders and activists, youth gained access to more and more decision-making spaces.
• Then the challenge evolved. Once in the room, young leaders became the objects of self-serving selfies and tokenistic inclusion. The challenge became how to convince power-holders to not simply include youth but how to meaningfully engage and build partnerships with them.
• Meanwhile, youth leadership multiplied. Outside of traditional corridors of power, young people increasingly led change on their own terms. Youth-led action, youth-led movements, and youth leaders came into focus as a force in their own right. 
• Flash forward to 2022, and the UN’s theme for International Youth Day 2022 is ‘intergenerational solidarity.” At a glance, ‘intergenerational’ feels like a step backward for youth leadership, but it actually reflects the highest rung  on Hart’s Ladder of youth participation, where youth and adults share decision-making.

Quite the change in a relatively brief span.

The job isn’t complete, though. There are loads of businesses, governments, and corridors of power where youth remain ignored.  But the global trends around youth leadership reflect progress, moving from exclusion toward the

highest manifestation of youth leadership: intergenerational partnerships.

What it Means for Leaders, Young and Older.

Leaders must know how to partner with youth.

With the biggest youth generation in history alive today, only a fool would ignore the huge share of the market, the next wave of talent, or the unique skills, lived experience,and insight that this generation brings to the table.

Instead, the best leaders actively build intergenerational partnerships within their teams, organizations, and community. Here’s how:

• Seek Potential.  If you’re going to hire young talent, the key to success is hiring on potential.  The same goes for developing young leaders in general.  Leaders who focus on young people’s potential, rather than lacking  experience, will have the advantage in building intergenerational teams.
• Create Space.  A fellow panelist, Dr. Amjad Mohammed Saleem, explained that intergenerational solidarity requires space for both intergenerational dialogues and for youth to support each other.  Taken together, these spaces create the platforms for young leaders to grow, learn, and collaborate both with peers and with older partners.
• Think Complementarity.  Young staff bring different skills and experience to the table than older ones.  Too often, leaders focus on what youth lack professionally, but when balanced with older team members, the potential for both groups to bring their unique strengths is transformative. To build inclusive cultures, the best leaders nourish identity and belonging at both the group and individual levels.
• Lead from the Front, Inclusively.  When it comes to diversity, equity, and inclusion, leaders must speak up, and intergenerational partnerships are no exception.  Remembering that diversity does not guarantee inclusion, and that harm can come from increasing diversity without building inclusion, the role of leaders is to guide conversations, ensure safety, and bring out the best in their teams.

Make Youth Leadership More Than a Slogan.

Most of our biggest challenges, from climate change to artificial intelligence, are fundamentally intergenerational in nature.

To rise to these challenges, or simply to build great teams, youth cannot be excluded. Nor older people.  Intergenerational solidarity is about leveraging the best of all ages. Respecting, learning, and growing together. That’s how we change the world.

It’s also how great leaders build their teams.