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It happened on the 2nd day of the Advocacy training for the Youth Advocate Group (YAG) held in Abuja Nigeria. I personally wasn’t interested in the activity we were about to carry out which served as the icebreaker for the day, only because it was compulsory I had to partake in it.
The white papers were pinned to the wall, words written bold in black ink drew my attention to them but they were ten in number making it difficult to read them all at once. All the members of the council were eager but had to wait for instructions on what to do with them. Finally she said it...` the topic for today’s icebreaker is LEDERSHIP’. I swore under my breath and immediately lost interest. She went on... ` go round the ten papers, read each one as you approach it and stand in front of the one which inspires you the most. This is not an activity for me I thought but I had no choice but to join the rest of the YAG. I started reading the one in front of me... `People are more easily led than driven. David Harold’. I moved ahead and read `and when we think we lead we are most led. Lord Bryon’. Amazingly it became interesting! I continued reading until I got to the one which hit me. It read `The only real training for leadership is leadership. Anthony Jay’. I immediately fell in love with it at first sight, I stopped. Curiosity made me read the others I hadn’t read while I jealously guided my new love.
Amazing how leadership can be described in a sentence. I began to reason with Anthony Jay. Everyone is a leader, Leadership trainings are important but I believe experience is the best teacher. Having to be a good leader entails being a leader i.e. you cannot be a good leader when you do not lead.
As a member of my council volunteering to carry out a task meant for the entire council makes me a leader, keeping track of activities in my designation makes me a leader. I mustn’t be appointed a leader before I become one. Exercising these little traits cooks me up to be a good and effective leader. With my new love for leadership I have decided to include my name in my list of Young People with a Passion for Leadership (YPPFL) an acronym I figured.
So many definitions and explanations of leadership given by the other council members designed a new face of leadership in my mind. Lastly am glad I joined the YPPFL. Smiles.
