Photo: Zhao Yiyang

 
Due to the tough challenges of collaborating while competing with elites from different nations and cultures, the query about what extraordinary international talents requires has sparked a heated controversy worldwide. After an investigation notice in January from China envisaged the society's huge demand for post-90s talents with outstanding leadership skills in the near future. Leadership, which used to be regarded as one of the most essential core competencies, has once again attracted attention from all walks of society domestically.

Throughout the development and transformation of human history, it is evident that the definition of leadership is disparate among people and regions in different periods. To a certain extent, marine culture in western societies tend to emphasize leaders' strong motivation to meet challenges, to look for opportunities, and to explore the unknown. While relatively conservative eastern countries are more likely to favour the so-called Golden Mean, an ideological method to maintain harmony and stability of subordinates. Nevertheless, the twenty-first century is, beyond doubt, a brand-new era, in which the world craves for leadership renewal in the face of the conflicts between tradition and innovation, religious clashes and trade cooperation, multi-polar politics and cultural integration.

The incidences above indicate that the connotation of leadership is constantly varying. However, personally, I believe that plenty of examples have revealed that remarkable heads always unite the people with the same beliefs around them, and together strive for a great triumph. Generally, “leadership is to direct people from where they are now”, says Kissinger, the former Secretary of the US, “to where they have not been.” Under such an inclusive premise, the recognized leadership is constantly altering with the times, and it further derives such skills as communicative competence, self-confidence, and forward-looking ability that are closely associated with it. This is exactly one of the reasons why politicians like Winston Churchill, revolutionists like George Washington and entrepreneurs like Jack Ma could gather like-minded people and influence the masses.

The famed writer Simon Sinek once came up with a model of the Golden Circle, in which he highlighted the significance of the attraction of a headman’s belief. “People don’t buy what you do; they buy why you do it.” Shrewd leaders never deliberately train their speaking skills or organisational abilities. Instead, these capabilities are reflected in their own beliefs and influence. Furthermore, with the effective coordination of elites from different institutions, various fields in the world will be gradually developed by these outstanding leaders and their teams, thus boosting the society’s development.

I, as a high school student, have participated in summits like the model UN and model G20 conferences, playing the heads of several nations. The experiences of negotiating with other ministers and rationally assigning tasks to team members convince me that the essence of leadership is about influence. Representatives who are extremely infectious and confident and have unique and attractive ideas are often highly appreciated. Correspondingly, the unique ideas and their strong motivation distinguish them from other competitors is patently the secret of success regardless of other capabilities. Such is leadership that leads human beings to develop and prosper by leaps and bounds.

Currently, considerate congregations in diversified fields are emerging under the direction of influential and sophisticated leaders, which is the signal denoting the new type of leadership in the approaching era. The world changes rapidly, and leadership is definitely the insurance of the progress of the society. Undeniably, what we juveniles should do nowadays is to seize opportunities to accumulate knowledge, enrich humanities and most crucially let our beliefs attract allies. All in all, leadership prevails.