Leadership isn’t optional – it’s every young person’s duty
If you’ve traveled around the former Yugoslav countries at all, you know conversations with people don’t go as badly as you might initially think. In these chats, the “us vs them” divide isn’t nearly as strong as in the media, or when we’re not together. We often unconsciously make concessions to avoid potentially offending “the other side” – how many times have you called your language “ours” for exactly this reason? And although we all know, consciously or not, who’s responsible for everything that happened, these conversations usually end with some variation of “Who the hell turned us against each other?!” After we hug it out, we typically arrive at the same layman’s consensus: if anything can save us all, it’ll be the youth, the economy, and knowledge.
We’re not the first to think this way in a post-war context. After WWII in 1948, young people from seven European countries came together determined to do everything possible to prevent such conflicts from happening again. They hoped, you see, that they could change the world – one person at a time. Thus was born the Association internationale des étudiants en sciences économiques et commerciales, an international association of economics and business students. Today we know these brilliant young people as AIESEC – the world’s largest youth-led organization, present in 126 countries with nearly 40,000 members, and at least that many more participating in their programs each year.
Impressive. They want to prevent wars, clearly, but what do they actually do there? You sign up and…?
The story of AIESEC is actually a story about leadership. Simply put, difficult times demand a special set of skills from young people to help them navigate an increasingly complex and changing world. This was true in the mid-20th century, and it’s especially true today. Without these skills, it’s impossible to stay relevant in any field. We’re talking about things like:
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Teamwork skills where you can both lead and follow, while understanding how the team as a whole contributes to set goals
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Goal-setting – determining necessary resources, who can do what, timelines, and separating personal interests from project interests
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Communication skills – being able to clearly, unambiguously and focused articulate thoughts and inspire others to action
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Personal integrity, self-awareness and respect that translates to professionalism, personal responsibility and business acumen
These skills, I believe, were crucial for the global elite that emerged from AIESEC and similar post-war European movements. Today however, AIESEC members say leadership isn’t optional – it’s every young person’s obligation. That’s why their international volunteer, entrepreneurship and talent internship programs focus on developing exactly these skills through structured, multi-month approaches in collaboration with top companies.
AIESEC Serbia is known even outside business circles for at least two projects bigger than themselves: what ambitious young person in Serbia hasn’t heard of – or participated in – Career Days? Who among those with something meaningful to say hasn’t spoken at their annual New Leaders conference or at least dreamed of being there?
AIESEC’s Belgrade office was founded at the Faculty of Economics back in 1953 and long ago stopped being just for econ students. They’re active in Niš, Novi Sad, Kragujevac, across all faculties, and they’re just getting started with big plans for Serbia. Despite this impressive history, “AIESECers” are everywhere today – leading key departments in companies, in executive positions, as leaders in public administration or running their own ventures.
Many HR managers will tell you: seeing AIESEC on a CV is a valuable and important recommendation signaling you’re dealing with a dead-serious candidate. These young people – and I’ve personally confirmed this many times – thirst for knowledge and achievement. When we as employers give them that chance, they repay it many times over – to themselves, to us, to the company and the community.
Usually all we need to do is point them to opportunities – AIESECers are trained to grab them. Just watch them go.
