The paradox of experience in youth leadership

Leadership is a multi-faceted concept.

We tend to, in our leaders, value both wisdom and confidence, patient knowledge that typically comes only with experience. On the other hand  there is a constant search for innovation, radically new ideas and approaches are being sought after and glorified almost to the point of being gimmicky. The ideal leader has to embody these to ideas in some bizarre equilibrium.

Youth leadership especially is its own kind of ungainly beast.

The young leader is typically viewed as perfect for those ideals of innovation and adaptability. The lack of the experience everyone prizes so highly means the young leader is less restricted by preexisting ideas and past experiences.

That lack of experience however is potentially disastrous.

Experience and wisdom breeds dependability and security, both of which are highly important to the overall success of any venture. Youth leaders almost by definition do not have these traits of wisdom and experience. Their first big project though necessary in developing those qualities, is likely to either outright fail at what it attempts to achieve or be significantly flawed. As a learning and growing experience attempting to lead while young is great as a learning opportunity but the overwhelming and oppressive feelings of stress conjured as events inevitably do not resolve as planned can be difficult to overcome.

All kinds of leadership are stressful, such is the nature of the action. As a young person however that stress compounds with the newness of many aspects of life. Youth is a time of firsts and firsts are stressful enough without the addition of leadership responsibilities and thus it compounds. Newness and stress can be positive factors, without the skill and courage to take the leap outside of our comfort zone, we can miss out on important opportunities for advancement (Kloefkorn 2015). To stay healthy however we need to travel back into our comfort zones to recover before stretching ourselves again. Its almost like physical exercise, we need to work hard but also rest and recover. In leadership and especially in innovative entrepreneurship, it can be difficult to step away for those necessary moments of recovery.

Youth is full of avenues of stress and newness that cannot be abandoned or neglected. These things range from personal development and discovery to full time study and coming to grips with more adult responsibilities. On their own these sources of stress are fine, adding leadership commitments can however be risky. It becomes easy to feel trapped in the place of stress and discomfort known as the danger zone, a place so far beyond where you are comfortable that it becomes harmful. The danger zone is the place where you are stretched too far, over-stressed and unable to lead (Ambler 2015) and in youth leadership I see an enhanced risk of entering due to lack of experience and commitment.

The skills of a youth leader in innovation and adaptability are profound but it pays to be cautious of the dangers brought about from a lack of experience.