Football clubs invest in young players because they know one Wayne Rooney is worth millions. I went this week to a Changemakers event looking at the coming National Institute for Youth Leadership, which is part of the Government’s 10-year youth strategy. It struck me that here this logic is even more powerful - one great prime minister must be worth billiions. Now, I know that’s a bit of a naive, heroic view of leadership, but isn’t it exciting to think about what our future prime ministers are doing now, and what kinds of youth activities might support them? Where once prime ministers came from the Oxford Union or the trade union, today they may be part of youth projects teaching them about the challenges of this century, like religious integration or positive diversions from anti-social behaviour. I hope the National Institute can find a way to model that excitement about the potential of young people, in a society that seems increasingly fearful of them.
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Really interesting point.
I was talking yesterday to someone who is now a voluntary sector consultant after a long career running and supporting work with young people across the North of England - and who traced that whole career back to some dedicated and sustained investment in his education and continuing development by the Rank Foundation. (http://www.rankfoundation.com/)
The model of locating a relatively small number of young people with significant untapped potential, then supporting and investing in their development is certainly worth exploring. It does bring up equity issues - and we need to make sure investment in education and leadership skills does not act to co-opt those from diverse background into unquestioning acceptance of the values of the status-quo - but I can see a lot of promise in supporting and developing young people’s leadership - as long as it’s not just oriented towards making the next set of councillors or the next PM, and builds all forms of community leadership right in.
Most likely our future prime ministers will come through a lengthy process of training that will involve starting as a member of the UK Youth Parliament, participating in various media training, go on to study politics and then become a professional politician!
That ‘investment’ already seems to be there - whether ‘career politicians’ are more capable than people who are genuinely passionate about a cause I’m not sure - but I do think our political system is weakened by having less people who genuinely emerge through having a real concern for issues that affect those living in their communities - so I agree very much with supporting young peoples community leadership - the emphasis on political aspirations shouldn’t be that there isn’t one, but that young people can see that this is a possible method of making a difference opposed to a comfortable job if they do and say the right things.
I saw an article today yesterday about Deloitte ( one of the big 4 accountancy firms ) hiring a young expert in sharia law and Islamic finance. He may well be a leader of tomorrow given 20% of the world’s population follows that religion.
Companies and other organisations spend a great deal of money recruiting and retaining talent from age 16/18 onwards ( and generally seem to do it quite well )
Governments spend a great deal of money recruiting ( compulsorily ) and retaining ( ASBOs and exclusions permitting ) talent into schools, and seem to do it very poorly.
I wonder what lessons there are here ?