Youth To Business

Publication 2011 Put together by 600 young leaders from 110 countries, who gathered in Kenya to hold discussions around innovation, leadership and corporate responsibility with representatives from 12 organisations.

I hear a lot of managers complaining about how difficult it is to engage “Generation Y”, the youngsters born in the late 80’s and 90’s who have been joining the workforce in the beginning of this Century. These managers say that “Generation Y” are “spoiled”, that “they want immediate success.” Their attention span is short; they skip quickly from one thing to another, get easily distracted, have no loyalty to the organisation, soon get bored and quit what they are doing and go looking for something else that will give them “instant rewards”.

Curiously, that has not been my personal experience in working with AIESEC since 2003. Here we have an international student association, totally led by students, with over 60,000 members from almost 110 countries, organising over 16,000 international internships every year. They have grown 90% yearly on average during the past three years, precisely when the global economy was in deep trouble and most multinationals were downsizing. They regularly face the same challenges these multinationals do, yet they consistently have overcome these challenges more quickly, effectively and sustainably than any of the “Fortune 500” companies.

And this is an organisation run by kids!... “Kids” who are all in their early twenties and whose achievements should be carefully studied by seasoned professionals. There is something to learn from what AIESEC has been doing, especially from the way they are dealing with a troubled business environment in the present and how they are planning their future by designing their “Vision 2015”.

What is the secret of AIESEC’s success? Perhaps it is their shared mind-set. All their members have an interest in international issues.

By definition, they have to be interested beyond their national borders just to join the organisation. But the mind-set goes far beyond that (otherwise they might be just a travel agency).

The AIESEC mind-set includes a strong commitment to values: Leadership, Integrity, Diversity, Participation, Excellence, Sustainability.

It also includes a 5-item competency model and a Leadership Development Programme. But you might find this sort of things at many international companies who are not half as successful as AIESEC. So what is the difference?

Maybe it’s the energy these youths have in abundance, or the fact that they are genuinely committed to their values, rather than paying lip service to a poster on the wall… Maybe it’s the fact that that they are so eager to learn, participate and make an impact.

In the Youth To Business Forum 2012 there will be many opportunities to explore what constitutes “the AIESEC mind-set” and the impact this mind-set will have on the way businesses are run in the next decade. My feeling is that this will be something quite different from what you might think from listening to managers whining about “Generation Y.” AIESEC is the forefront of “Generation Y.” It represents a global youth voice. We should do well to listen to what this voice is saying. I, for one, will be there once again at the Youth to Business Forum, in order to be energised by AIESEC and to allow my own future perspective to be enriched by the interaction with other forum participants. I hope to see you there.

FERNANDO LANZER

Keynote Speaker Global Youth to Business Forum 2011

AIESEC is the world’s largest student-run organisation. We are a premiere choice for youth to develop their personal and professional skills, facilitating over 16,000 international internships and over 20,000 team leadership experiences in 2011 alone. As part of our largest global meeting in 2011, 600 people from AIESEC joined companies and organisations in the Global Youth to Business Forum. There, they challenged each other in discussions about leadership, corporate responsibility and innovation. They explored new ways of thinking, looking at the world, and making an impact in a collaborative way. This was the Global Youth to Business Forum, Kenya 2011.

Such forums are crucial to the role AIESEC plays in society. We bring young people from all over the world together as they explore and develop their leadership potential. Using AIESEC as our platform, we learn how to become culturally sensitive, sustainable and how to positively impact the society we represent. But we can’t learn alone. All of this is only possible through the constant dialogue we have with the corporate world, governments and other NGOs. Business, in its many forms, plays a fundamental role in shaping our future. Every year, therefore, we create hundreds of spaces where business and youth can come together in an open dialogue and common outcome. The global Youth to Business Forum is the centerpiece of all these spaces, a platform in itself to innovate and bring ideas which matter for us all.

Tetiana Mykhailiuk

President AIESEC International 2011 - 2012

INNOVATION How do you put a good idea into practice?

Steve Jobs once said: “Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” So it’s only natural that this was a key topic for the 600 student leaders from more than 110 countries and territories at AIESEC’s annual International Congress.

How do you deal with the daily change of everything? How do you make an innovation sustainable? Here are some of the answers AIESECers came up with: “We as students should be flexible and open to new thoughts and ideas. While we want to implement change and innovation, we should show responsibility and the willingness to take risks. All the discussions going on around sustainability also imply that we should be focused on the future. Furthermore, there should be a platform where you can present and exchange your ideas with other people thus creating more space for innovation.

It is very important for us as a youth organisation to lead by example – meaning, one should stand up for his own believes and state honest opinions. Finally, one should respect others’ opinions, empathise, and put himself in others shoes.”

LEADERSHIP In a fast-changing, interconnected world, the problem of leadership is becoming more complex every day. Our 600 participants asked themselves: How can we effectively address the responsibility we have on this ever-changing planet?

Did you ever ask yourself how your values could become “the way to do it�? One crucial point of a good leader is making essential values accessible to followers. Like an open book, leaders should offer knowledge and space to create and grow. As youth of today, we must find the honesty and courage to stand up for what we believe as well as living our values.

In case you are in a management position in an organisation, your personal values should or usually are partly aligned to that of the organisational values.

But how can you, as youth, lead change in the organisation you are working in? When you are not satisfied with a certain situation, it is only you who can change it. Certainly, you should bring in new perspectives and ways to see the solution you are looking for. You should speak up for what you believe in. But will anyone listen?

To be effective, values-oriented leadership has to start small. You should share your ideas with like-minded people and build up a micro-network to support you. This was where this youth to business forum was aiming: To be a catalyst to bring this process into motion.

CORPORATE RESPONSIBILITY Done right, Corporate Responsibility is always a long-term investment. It should be connected to the company values and the mission. The delegates in this workshop agreed on the fact that any action taken in the frame of Corporate Responsibility should be related to the daily operations of a company, which could also be reflected in one’s personal life.

There is a famous quote that says: “Aim high, start small.” It is always easier to start with corporate responsibility when you are looking at local issues where the company is present. A large majority of the delegates also agreed with the fact that the responsibility of a company starts with their branding. There can be a variety of options a company may choose to engage in corporate responsibility. The ideal outcome is to make it stick and continue on a long-term scale.

Once a company has reached the stage of successfully implementing a corporate responsibility model, how would they go about connecting it with youth? The delegates agreed that what would engage them and connect them with company corporate responsibility models would be more knowledge of what is actually happening. These could be in the form of workshops, engagement with youth organisations and institutions of higher learning.

How could the youth of today harness the power of corporate responsibility to help shape the world? The delegates discussed being able to understand and share the power of corporate responsibility, seeing how it can connect to their lives and being proud to share it.

They also spoke about creating social projects that include ideas and resources from organisations and networks, working together as one because it is something ‘cool’ which youth can relate to.

It all boils down to how corporate responsibility in companies can gain credibility and be aligned to the values of the company and youth. It is about shaping a values-driven world.