Leadership

In this era of unprecedented technological advancements and highly unmonitored exposure to all types of media, the question whether leadership in people’s personalities comes naturally or it is a learned skill is a controversial topic to debate about. Myriads of people strongly assume that leadership is innate and people who were not born with this ability can never become leaders, while other do not accede to this dimension claiming that everything depends on practicing and developing leadership as a skill. Considering all the pros and cons of this issue, I am inclined to conclude that leadership can show up in every age if one improves his/her intelligence in all possible ways. My thesis is formed by the considerations which will be stated in the following paragraphs. 

First and foremost, it goes without saying that people want their leader to have emotional and informational intelligence,  be a trustable person on whom they can rely and have an IQ level which is higher than average. Although many people can be born with special abilities to introduce themselves in a way to look more productive, they they can never hide their knowledge. Recent studies found that people pay more attention to the fact how a leader candidate behaves in some situations when he/she needs to use knowledge and background information, than how charismatic they are.  A compelling example of this can be my own experience. I used to be a narrow-minded teenager when I was in the ninth grade. I was not talking much and my classmates barely knew my name. Once when our class needed to choose a project leader, me and a popular girl offered ourselves as candidates. Of course, she was very open-minded, extroverted, active and well known at school, but I won the competition because more people voted for me. This is because they all considered that even though she knows how to express herself and looks positive, I can handle leadership better than her. Contemplating all of this, none of natural abilities matters, when people see another person who maybe does not seem too enthusiastic, but has more knowledge and practical skills. 

Furthermore, it is crucial to highlight the fact that leadership programmes are held all over the world and this bears testament to the fact that leadership is not inherent.  Thousands of people attend such classes and programmes in order to learn how to behave when you are a leader, how to keep your group of people gathered and control them in a healthy way. If leadership was innate, these programmes would be nothing but a waste of time and money. Many famous wealthy businessmen reached success by reading books and attending leadership programmes. Let us take my father’s example. When he was thirty, he won a lottery of one million dollars. He decided to invest it and start a new business, but he realized he does not know anything about business. So my father started taking leadership classes to be more informed in this sphere. Before long, he opened a restaurant and hired employees to work there.  The leadership programme  helped him to communicate with his employees and hold good relationships with them in the future. Whereas, if he opened a business without any leadership skills he would not know how to treat his workers in the right way. Hence, leadership classes are very useful for many people, and almost everyone who attends them leaves positive feedback. This means that leadership is a skill, not an ability you are born with. 

To sum it up, the spectrum of opinions people may entertain regarding the topic of leadership and how it occurs in people’s lives can be extremely wide. But still I am against the original statement considering such factors as people’s knowledge and extracurricular classes which teach others these skills.

Is it appropriate to challenge older people’s opinions?

In this era of unprecedented technological advancements and highly unmonitored exposure to all types of media, the question whether it is appropriate to challenge older people’s opinions or not is a controversial topic to debate about. Myriads of people strongly assume that older people have more experience and listening to them is always more beneficial while others do not accede to this dimension claiming that living your life with your own rules is more comfortable and right. Considering all the pros and cons of this issue, I am inclined to conclude that there is nothing wrong when you do not consider older people’s views as one hundred percent true and sometimes ignore their way and doing yours. My thesis is formed by the considerations which will be stated in the following paragraphs. 

First and foremost, it goes without saying that parents, grandparents or other relatives who are older are not forever in people’s lives. When people rely too much on their opinions, views and move only after their permission or support they will be stuck in their problems if they pass away. A compelling example of this can be my cousin’s experience. He was in a very close relationship with his grandmother. When Adam was going to do something, they were discussing everything in detail and did that only when he got permission. Even though Adam was already twenty years old, he was not ready to decide something by himself. When his grandmother was already seventy eight years old, she passed away. This was very traumatic for all of us, but especially Adam was in torture. So far, he is not willing to make his own decisions, even though five years have already passed.  Contemplating all of this, considering older people as your organizer or dictator of life is spoiling the ability to handle something yourself. 

Furthermore, it is crucial to highlight the fact that between Generation Z and older people there is a generation gap. They are not thinking the same, do not have the same interests, abilities, hobbies or even fears. The youth who have to follow all ideas and suggestions of their older relatives and family members are always having difficulties with enlarging their communication zones. In such an age, people grow and shape, so if they grow by being told everything and having lack of privacy they will be the same in the future. Let us take my own example. My family has traditional and religious views on life and they wanted to raise me as a humble lady their whole life. My mom gave birth to me when she was fifty years old, so our age difference is huge. For her, being involved in social media, posting your photos or sharing memes to others was a shame. She was forbidding me to have close friends and explaining that they will disturb me from studying. I was raised very narrow minded and no one wanted to communicate with me until I graduated school and moved. After a year of taking care of my traumas and trying to get back my self confidence I started to live like a normal person. Hence, not all parents are as strict as were mine, but disagreements with a member of another generation is normal and challenging their views must not be considered as disrespect towards them. 

To sum it up, the spectrum of opinions people may entertain regarding the topic of following all ideas older people suggest can be extremely wide. But still, I am for the idea that older people are not always right just because they lived a little bit longer considering such factors as nowadays youth is sometimes more intelligent and mature because they have an unlimited source of information which is called Internet.