What executives can learn from 15-year-olds
It is astonishing what a hopeful and ambitious teenager can teach an established executive at Columba Leadership
Corporate leaders looking to grow their skills and improve their management style often enrol at a business school or find a professional mentor. What they don’t do is spend a week on a residential course with 15-year-olds from poor schools with dire academic results and high drop-out rates. But they should, because what a hopeful and ambitious teenager can teach an established and perhaps jaded executive is astonishing. “It’s a mind-shifting, extraordinary experience,” says Peter Gent, the head of sales and marketing for Columba Leadership. “I went assuming I had some value to share from my experience and to give these young people some insights they may not have.” Instead, he was learning from them. He realised two things instantly: the dreadful hardship that many South Africans face, and that most young people have the energy and desire to define a new path to uplift themselves and their communities. “These kids come with stories of neglect, absent parents, abuse and alcoholism a...
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