Everybody has a Place: Too Young to Lead?

FAITH ABIODUN

I was five years old when I became class captain in primary school, and I held that position for three years, and repeated it again in secondary school at the age of 11.I had the honour of conducting a church choir at the age of seven, and became Children Pastor in my church at the age of nine (my mum helped prepare the sermons). 

I was twelve years old when I was employed for the first time; I worked as an apprentice in a photography studio for four months. Throughout the period of my apprenticeship, I lived all alone in a big house with my parent visiting on weekends. I woke up early in the morning, fixed my breakfast, took the taxi to work before 8am and retired home at about 7pm with a light dinner before sleep. I felt normal, but every time I tell people about that period, they ask me “didn’t you feel you were too young?” Too young for what, I wonder.

All my life, the one question that has dogged me has been “how old are you?” I will do anything I can to shake it off my back, but it never seems to leave me alone. When I got my second job and earned my first salary as a business centre operator at the age of 15, everyone still thought I was too young.

My undergraduate adventures did nothing to eradicate the question of my age; I was admitted to university at 16, became Editor-in-Chief of a 2000-member Union of Campus Journalists before my 18^th birthday, interviewed Professor Wole Soyinka and numerous other Nigerian celebrities before my 19^th birthday, and was lead speaker for the university’s debate team before my 20^th birthday. Oh, by the way, I also founded a youth development NGO just after turning 20. I thought all those things were fine, except that people kept on telling me I was too young to be so involved in building my own life. For Christ’s sake, when was I supposed to start?

When I started my Master’s degree in the USA, I was the youngest member of my class, and then I went on to serve as President of a multicultural organization, where again everyone was older than I was. I joined Toastmasters International, and I was clearly the youngest member of the group, but that didn’t stop me from taking leadership roles and serving as a mentor for a new member who was almost twice my age. Whenever I told Americans about my organization back home, they marvelled at how such a young person could have done such great things. Again, I wondered why everyone was so surprised about my age.

I’m approaching my 25^th birthday, and I know that the question about my age will never leave me. I feel like I’ve been in the workforce for about 10 years, but I still feel very uneasy about the many things I haven’t learned, and opportunities I haven’t seized. I look at other young people who are making tremendous progress alongside me and I wonder why anyone will question our abilities to lead simply because we’re not grey.

Age should never be a determinant of a person’s leadership capacity; as soon as a person's mind can conceive of an idea, and they buckle up to implement it, they are ready for leadership. 

 

 ''In leadership, irrespective of age, everybody has a place''

About the author: Faith Abiodun is a very dear friend whose life has inspired me many times over. He is an entrepreneur, project manager, journalist, humanitarian, writer and an outstanding public speaker. He is the founder and president of The F.A.I.T.H. Initiative, a nonprofit youth development organization based in Nigeria.
Follow him on: twitter.com/FaithAbiodun & faithabiodun.com

Photo Credit: www.wvi.org via google images