A Leader? The man in the spotlight. The speaker. The big guy everyone listens to.

When I asked around what a ‘leader’ meant to the people, this is the response I got. ‘Leadership’ got a longer, more diverse definition, almost one too many. To a girl, leadership was the quality to stand up against injustice and inspire people to protest. To someone else, leadership was having the guts to be the spearhead of something unusual but undoubtedly required.

The action of leading people. This is, at its most basic, what leadership is. But this is a generalised idea, and this generation is not fond of generalisations anymore. Leadership could be an idea. Leadership could be a psychology. Leadership could be a philosophy. Many a times, Philosophy is swept aside as the business of the old thinkers. Not true, folks, not true.

Aristotle once said, everyone adheres to a philosophy whether he is aware of it or not. A general pattern of behaviour is followed by every individual, which is conscious or unconscious, consistent and adequate, more or less. This guiding pattern in a person’s life is his philosophy. And the philosophy of a leader is to take the first step. Leaders are the game changers. They are the ones who begin the revolutions, they are the ones who initiate changes, and they are the ones who actually make a difference. They are, then, the people who make history.

Rulers and governments declare wars. But it is the youth that revolutionises the state. It is the youth that brings back the balance. And hence, being the youth of today, it is our duty to pull this world from the dark abyss of decay that it is catapulting towards.

Becoming a leader is not impossible. It requires only an honest will to initiate. Leadership is an act. It is an act as pure as a poet composing a verse, or a painter painting the Tuscan sun. You only have to take action. As simple as the stroke of a brush, all you need to do is take a step. Yes, the path might be tough and the sky tempestuous, but have you never thought, that if the world remains as it is, and still keep growing, then how much worse it can get? With our zeal, our vigour, and our curiosity, we can change the world. So why wait for someone else to be our guardian angel? Why not become the superhero yourself? Let them old people make a movie on us. Just us normal people, without the cape and the mask, ready to save the world.

The one question that arises is: how? How do we become the leader, how do we come to know what’s happening around the world? People, this is where AIESEC comes in. It provides with a platform where you can stand and call to your fellow human beings to take action. An organisation which was formed when the world was damaged and bleeding, AIESEC is your answer to all questions. Step up and join in. It will change your life.

Written By: Tanuf Khan