Youth Summit challenges ideas of leadership

The event hosted year 12 students from around Canterbury to learn what it means to be a leader in the modern day, and how leadership skills can be employed in day-to-day life.

Co-organiser and speaker Kylie Horgan said students would walk away with a new perspective of leadership.

“We hope students will see that leadership doesn’t come in one shape or style.”

“Leadership today is less about hierarchy and more about how you relate to others. It’s about lifting the people around you, knowing when to step forward and when to step back, and being someone others trust in uncertain times.”

The diverse range of speakers exemplified that. Each were leading in unique and sometimes unexpected ways.

Former All Black captain Kieran Read opened the day with an honest exploration of how he struggled while performing on the global stage.

Kieran spoke to the students about how easy it can be to feel pressure throughout life, but how it was important to embrace challenges in life and push forward as a leader.

The other key speaker was Bariz Shah, co-creator of Project Fiftyone. Bariz turned his life around from an 18-year-old prison inmate to a leader in the Muslim community.

Following the 2019 Christchurch mosque attacks, Bariz and his wife Saba raised money to help establish 51 businesses in his home of Afghanistan — one for each life lost in the attacks. He has become a successful engineer, filmmaker, and father.

Students took part in a range of workshops throughout the day. They could try out a high intensity interval training session, reconnect with their body in an introductory Pulse Yoga session, Learn about healthier relationships with Betterman and hear from Lincoln University’s Future Leader scholarship students.

They were also fed a Lincoln University dining hall lunch, offering a sample of what they could eat every day as a Lincoln student.

We hope to see some of these young leaders again in the future. Wherever they end up, it was a pleasure supporting this event and New Zealand’s next generation of leaders.