The two most forward-thinking concepts Malala Yousafzai gave the world a gift.
Malala Yousafzai has left the world with two excellent ideas: the potential to defend the rights of girls to an education and the characteristics of a genuine leader. It is challenging to become the head of a nation being terrorized by the Taliban at the age of 16. It is normal for people to feel frightened and want to hide in their homes at that point, as some of Malala's schoolmates did. Malala made the decision to stand up for the numerous girls' right to an education, though. Although it seemed impossible, it is now a fact. She proved the point there is indeed no limitation to those who are visionary. Besides that, Malala has become a world leader. Age does not determine leadership, leadership is defined by the visions we have and the ability to rise above the challenges and pursue the vision. Malala has left a mark of true leadership in the world. Her leadership style is worth emulating.
A discussion about Malala’s leadership style
Malala, in spite of her yound age, inspired the world to take real action on the fate of the 61 million girls around the world who did not have a chance at education. There are several lessons that any aspiring leader can learn from her as follows;
Taking a stand
Malala took a stand against closure of schools in her village and country. She had grown in a family that valued education and she chose that noone would stop her from studying. She began to communicate her stand as a BBC blogger and when the oppression was too much, she revealed her identity and spoke about the ills of her country to the world. Malala, when she changed her identity as a BBC writer from anonymous to Malala, she had made up her mind to take a stand of fighting for her and many girls’ education rights. A leader has to stop hiding and show the world what they believe in.
Communicating your story and the importance of your vision
One will not be a good leader if they cannot communicate their vision to their audience. Malala has been clear and objective in communicating her vision. She has gone ahead to create an organization (called the Malala Fund), that assists her to live her vision of supporting the education of girls.
Being real, authentic, honest, and direct
As a 16-year old, the sudden fame would have made Malala to try and be someone she is not. She would have maybe tried to hide her Urdu accent or tried to hide her true self. But she does none of these things. She allows her accent and her innocence as a child into her speech and mannerism. She narrated her childhood experience with easy and honesty. It is this honesty and authenticity that catches the eye of the world. A leader must be authentic and honest to those he leads in order to make a mark (Sweeney & Gosfield 2015).
Be an adept listener
Listening is an important aspect of leadership that leaders miss out on. During one of Malala’s tours in the Syrian refugee camps, girls told her that the kind of education that they wanted was that that combined both the conventional education and vocational school. Since she listened keenly, she made this combination of education available for the millions of girls at the Syrian refugee camps. A good leader mostly listens, only talks when it is necessary. However, the opposite is true of most leaders.
Controlling one’s emotions
A leader must learn how to control their emotions. Malala should have been very angry at the Taliban men who tried to take her life. On the contrary, she promises education even to the children of those Taliban men. Her vision and judgement is not clouded by her emotions. A good leader must learn how to control their emotions.
Having mentors in leadership
Role models inspire people to do what they would otherwise feel inadequate to do. According to Malala, her role models were Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto, Malalai of Maiwand (the woman she was named after), and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. Every leader needs to identify their role models.
Impossibility should not be in any conversation of a leader
Leaders seek to provide solutions to life’s challenges. Impossibility is not in their vocabulary and as such is never part of their conversation. Malala, at her tender age may have thought that it would be impossible to see girls in her country go to school. However, she made an effort to find a solution and the impossible became possible.
Take initiative
Most leaders fail because they see problems around them but do not take initiative to deal with those challenges. As a result of their lack of initiative the community suffers the consequences. Leaders must take initiative and not just be observers.
Take courage
A leader has to be courageous in order to influence people to help them achieve their objectives. Fear always prevents people from accomplishing their leadershi roles. Leaders should learn from Malala to take courage and make their dreams a reality.
Malala’s strengths and weaknesses
An example of Malala’s strengths was her courage and determination. The young girl, at the time, overcame the fear of death. Instead, in a speech which she gave at the United Nations she says that her “…weakness, fear, and hopelessness died, and strength, power, and courage born…” on the day that the Taliban men shot at her. Another one of Malala’s strengths was her communication skills. Through her BBC blogs, she gained communication skills and when the time was right she quit being an anonymous blogger and identified herself. She used the same platform to write about the plight of girls in her country who were being denied the right to education.
On the contrary, little is known about Malala’s weaknesses. The only weakness known is that when she was attacked by the Taliban at the age of 16, she was not strong enough to fight back. They took advantage of her weakness.
How has the study of her style inspired you as you develop your own leadership style?
One of the major lessons that I have learnt is that I do not have to be a leader to begin learning how to lead. I can practice my leadership skills within my space. In addition, I can seek opportunities to develop myself such as volunteer to work in organizations with an aim of improving my skills and not just waiting for a paying job. Another lesson which I have learnt is that as a leader I have to be clear about what my leadership is all about. I need to communicate my ideas clearly to the people I intend to lead so that they can identify with it. The third very important lesson is about the “art of listening.” It is true that most people are good at talking rather than listening. Building up on this important skill will enable me to listen to the needs of people and work out ways of satisfying them or getting solutions for them.
Application of Malala’s teachings and work in my own personal life
I have learnt several lessons which I will be glad to apply to my own personal life. They are as follows;
Lesson on not giving up. Having been shot and left for dead, any normal person who take a low profile after their recovery and leave school alone. Malala never gave up on her dream to see ever Pakistani girl have access to school. She never gave up; I should not give up on my dreams either.
Lesson on speaking up. Many times when I am going through challenges, I would rather keep them to myself. This is not the case for Malala. She shouts out to the whole world, and makes them aware of the problems she, her village, and her country were dealing with. At a United Nations meeting countries heed to her call and raise millions of dollars to fund education for girls. Her speaking up gave her audience with the whole world. I should identify people to talk to whenever I have challenges. Keeping quiet and suffering in silence is not an option.
Lesson on not underestimating my abilities because of my age. Malala has inspired me to dream big and pursue my vision notwithstanding my age. She has taught me that my abilities are valuable not only to me, but to my school and the whole world.
Works cited
Yousafzai, Malala. He Named Me Malala.
Sweeney, Camille & Gosfield, Josh. Five leadership lessons from Malala Yousafzai. Fast Company. 2015. Web https://www.fastcompany.com/3052132/five-leadership-lessons-from-malala-yousafzai
