The author (in black) encourages vision and awareness among today's emerging young leaders.

Not many people know that before I started my work in public education reform, my first job after I graduated from college in 2000 was at the Ateneo de Manila University’s Office of Student Activities (OSA).

Our main task was to ensure that proper leadership and values formation were given to student leaders who ran the different organizations on campus.

This experience led to my continued passion and belief that the Filipino youth‘s involvement in nation-building is essential if we want to see a prosperous and just Philippine society.

Allow me then to share some of my learnings as a student leader when I was in college, and as a student formator for the early part of my career.

1) YOUNG LEADERS SHOULD SET A CLEAR VISION FOR THE ORGANIZATION. Many youth-led organizations fall into the trap of trying to achieve so many different things at the same time. While the intentions are good and well-meaning, the desired impact and effect may not be achieved since the efforts are not channeled into a common goal.

As soon as a person assumes leadership of an organization, he or she should hold consultations with the members so that he or she can present to them the vision of the organization, seek their comments, and eventually, ask them to own the vision.

The leader should also have the focus and discipline to make sure that all activities of the organization are in line with the vision. Any activity or project not in line with the vision should not be undertaken as this would just be a waste of resources.

2) YOUNG LEADERS SHOULD BE WILLING TO LISTEN AND LEARN. When I was in high school, I became the leader of Xavier School’s Youth Christian Life Community (YCLC). Then, I felt that I could implement all the ideas and projects that I had in mind.

When our faculty moderators shot down some of my projects, I felt bad. I thought they were trying to undermine my authority as the leader of YCLC. But after working with them, I realized that if I hadn’t listened to them, I would have done several projects that would’ve failed.

This made me see that listening to wiser and more experienced people would help me become a mature and well-rounded leader. Finding good mentors to seek advice from along the way will greatly help. I’m glad I had the likes of Chona Lin, Kim Pe, Jun Lim, Leland dela Cruz, Dr. Nene Guevara, Fr. Ben Nebres, Mayor Jesse Robredo, and Dr. Tony La Viña to help me become a better person and leader. These mentors have helped keep my feet on the ground. They never fail to remind me if they see me going astray.

3) YOUNG LEADERS SHOULD BE AWARE OF WHAT IS HAPPENING IN SOCIETY. I remember watching G.I. Joe when I was still in grade school and one of their most famous mantras was “Knowing is half the battle.”

I think this is especially true for a leader. One cannot lead properly without enough information on issues and trends related to his organization. A leader will likely make wrong decisions if he doesn’t have enough information in his hands.

I was only 23 yeas old when I started Pathways to Higher Education-Philippines in 2002. This organization aims to help academically-gifted but financially-disadvantaged public school students gain access to college. Due to the nature of my work, I had to understand the situation of public education in our country and learn how to deal with government officials especially those working at the Department of Education (DepEd).

I also had to learn how local government units work since this was essential in my dealings with them when it comes to raising scholarships for our participants. This led me to reading the newspapers and watching the news on a regular basis so I could keep abreast of what is happening in our country.

These are just three of my most important learnings as a Filipino leader. I will share more in my future articles. However, I believe that experience is always the best teacher thus, as a leader, one should not be afraid to take calculated risks since even if he commits a mistake, he can learn from that experience and become a better leader in the future.

Ultimately, we all have to realize that the best example we have in leadership is the example that Jesus Christ led, a leadership that always seeks to serve and to put the common good above one’s personal interests.

Harvey S. Keh is director for Youth Leadership and Social Entrepreneurship at the Ateneo School of Government.

Comments are welcome at harveykeh@gmail.com.