#6 – If I could tell my 16 year-old self…

This is something I get to think about a lot.

I’m privileged enough to get to run programs for 16 year-olds at MacRobertson Girls High and Melbourne High School (where I was lucky enough to attend).

The theme is leadership. Leadership skills, styles, characteristics, ethics – everything it takes to be a leader.

Not just a manager by the way. As the old saying goes, ‘management is doing things right, and leadership is doing the right thing’.

We are in a world almost devoid of leadership. Students everywhere bemoan their uninspiring teachers and lecturers. Company managers and CEOs seem to care more about profits than people. And the less said about our elected officials in Canberra, the better.

I remember being 16. Trying to navigate school, social life, adolescence as a whole. It’s like putting a kid in an Uber with no driver and no destination, just a drunk passenger in the back shouting directions.

So what would I tell my 16 year-old self? The same thing I tell the 16 year-old girls and boys during the program.

Be the leader you need. Start by being the leader for the people to your left and your right. Find your loves, discover your passions, do the right thing and above all; remember to laugh along the way.

Next week: The Spirit of the Game: What I learnt from D-Grade Cricket