The Curse of Youth

Old age and treachery will beat youth and exuberance every time, or so the saying goes.

Often times this seems all too true, particularly if you are young and restless. The world is, for the most part, run by old people, more specifically, old men and, if you live in a western country, likely old white men. These leaders are completely unrelatable for many youth, and obviously (to them) ‘don’t understand’ the world faced by young people today.

Youth care about things these elders seemingly don’t. They see things their leaders seemingly can’t. Youth are motivated to tear down an unjust establishment while elders appear to defend the familiar. At least this is the narrative.

I was having a spirited discussion about the sorry state of affairs in the world with two millennials. We can all easily agree that the world needs excellent leadership today more than ever. We need leaders who are inclusive, who are empathetic, and who are authentic. The discussion was wide ranging, and at one point the issue of age came into play. They are frustrated with the choices they have, no matter what their political leanings, and are swayed by passionate young people with strong messages that resonate with their principles. And this is where I got into a bit of trouble (not entirely accidentally) when I said:

Youth and inexperience are not the most important qualifications to be a leader.

Bitter Old Man

The reaction was predictable and I deserved it. It is an inflammatory statement for sure, especially to the ears of young adults who hear just another old man telling them to ‘get off my lawn’. After the eye rolling, I defended myself. I offered that while a completely unbiased perspective can be extremely useful, ignorance is not as a rule a desirable trait in leadership. To be clear, I didn’t say that young people can’t or shouldn’t be leaders, and I could have just as easily said “Being old and jaded are not the qualifications to be a leader.” and that would be equally true.

My point was simple. Leadership is not one dimensional, and the attributes which make a good leader are not one dimensional. Young is not better than old. Female is not better than male, atheist is not better than devout.