In a world where technology is evolving rapidly and social media is thriving, the next generation of leaders will need transferable skills to adapt to the changing world.
The most important skill for the next round of leaders is not about being able to write code or produce social media content.
It’s resilience.
According to the CEO and founder of youth suicide prevention charity zero2hero, Ashlee Harrison, today’s youth need resilience, adaptability, emotional intelligence, and problem-solving skills.
“I believe our future leaders will need to possess skills in resilience and be adaptable, solution-focused and to lead they must have a strong emotional quotient – to support themselves and others,” she said.
“I currently see a huge lack of resilience in teenagers and young adults entering the workforce,” she said.
“This lack of resilience is impacting their ability to work and succeed.”
Today’s youth are exposed to a raft of technology and social media stimulation that no generation before has been exposed to.
“With the rate at which technology and even humanity is advancing, we are currently preparing our children for a future we know very little about,” Ms Harrison said.
“Therefore, the skills our future leaders will need to thrive, need to be transferable.”
Cultivating these skills in young people begins with self-awareness. “Without self-awareness we cannot begin to develop the skills to lead,” Ms Harrison said.
“In order to develop the other mentioned skills, namely resilience and EQ, we must learn to fail and fail well.”
CEO and founder Ashlee Harrison at one of zero2hero's camps.
zero2hero’s programs encourage young people to “fail forward” and positively manage their mental health through education, engagement and empowerment.
“If we can teach young people to fail but learn from their failure and find solutions to move forward, then they will make stronger, more resilient and ideally empathetic leaders,” Ms Harrison said.
The not-for-profit’s flagship Camp Hero LEADERSHIP program, a five-day camp that gives “young heroes” the tools they need to become mental health leaders, has been delivered to over a thousand young people in WA since 2014.
“We host WA’s top young leaders aged 15 to 18 at the five-day camp, equipping them with the skills to become mental health leaders in their community,” Ms Harrison explained.
Camp Hero LEADERSHIP is the first camp of its kind in Australia, a unique program that brings together students, mentors and experts to give young people the tools they need to become mental health leaders.
Each “young hero” receives an accreditation in the nationally recognised suicide alertness seminar safeTALK to learn practical skills on how to support someone who may be thinking about taking their own life.
According to Beyond Blue, half of all the mental health conditions we experience at some point in our lives will have started by age 14 and over 75% of mental health problems occur before the age of 25.
Lifeline 13 11 14
Beyond Blue 1300 224 636
