Ethical Leadership

The world is transforming at a pace faster than our capabilities. Our actions and intentions now will soon become a consequence in the future, for good and unfortunately bad too. I am not a pessimist by nature, but sometimes it’s quite worrying to see the direction in which the world is moving ahead in terms of unending personal needs; stiff competition; recognition of achievements and also in terms of how some achievements are defined. Situations often lead us to compromise on some basic and sustainable elements, making us live a somewhat delusional lifestyle.

To simply ground these thoughts there are several instances that come to my mind. The global financial crisis; corruption across governments; lack of initiative displayed by youth; the indifference towards taking a stand for right or wrong; or for that matter, the number of responsible citizens who vote. And needless to say, all of these should have been opportunities towards a better world through ethical leadership.

The problem starts with lack of awareness and transcends to not knowing the right course of action. Most of the time, the environment guides us in our actions, and they become reactive instead of proactive. Ever given a thought to the feeling of satisfaction when you stand up for your beliefs? Yes, it’s quite a rare feeling! What we, the youth, stand up for now will become a consequence for our future generations to deal with. What principles guide you in your life? I know it’s a tough question itself, leave aside finding out the answer. Fortunately, after spending a considerable amount of time in a youth organisation which believes in discovering and developing leadership potential for anyone who wants to engage with it, I feel satisfaction about my learning. AIESEC, through my various experiences working with different diverse teams; being lead by different leaders and having to learn right from wrong myself, has been quite empowering. Today, after knowing people from over 45 different nations, talking with them about leadership, world issues and management, not only have I become more aware about the world and myself but I have also defined my own value system which guides my actions. And so, from my perspective, something as simple as ethical leadership is a very powerful belief.
“Be aware, have a hunger for learning and contributing more, purposefully” A common motto for the youth today!

-Sahil Dewan, President, AISEC India