“Leaders of today must be responsive
to the demands of the people who have entrusted them to lead, while also
providing a vision and a way forward, so that people can imagine a better
future.”
Pr. Klaus
Schwab. Founder of the World Economic Forum.
In the world today, we have people
who lead… and people who follow. Very few people come to the world economic
forum to be followers or to sit in the back seat. Everyone here wants to be at
the drivers’ seat. That’s what the global shapers told the founder of the largest
multi-stake holder community in the world, Pr. Klaus Schwab in their “meet the
leader” session in the Dead Sea, Jordan.
In a world full of transformation
and change, we should ask ourselves: Are We Ready?
Are we ready to face the new
challenges of technology? Are we ready to find cure to new diseases? Are we
ready to solve nuclear crisis? Are we ready to eliminate poverty by 2030? Are
we ready to listen to the voices of younger generations who now have the
knowledge and ability to advance more than any time before…? Are we ready to
create leaders who can make the world a better place to live in?
In May 2007, I had the opportunity
to participate at the 1st world economic forum on the Middle East
here in Jordan. We were around 16 young people chosen from different countries
in the region. Back then, I was still a university student filled with passion and
dreams and committed to changing the world.
Ten years later, I return to the WEF as a
global shaper part of the Beirut Hub to see around me a whole community of shapers trying to “shape a
better world”. Our community is growing. Our ideas found better place to
prosper and flourish. Everyone is doing their best to create the change. What I
found today is that change is already happening. We don’t have to wait for
governments to appoint those rising young figures in high positions in order to
create the change they want, everyone is entitled to begin a revolution in
their field.
Have an entrepreneurial spirit in
every domain you work at. Dare new ideas. Explore new horizons and start
wherever you are shaping this new world you want.
Your effort will be noticed and
people in your community will relate to you more than any leader NOT doing what
they should be doing first in the first place.
“Big issues cannot be solved by
governments anymore today. They cannot be solved by business alone. You have to
engage the civil society and more, you need to listen to the younger generations”. With
these words pr. Schwab summarizes his speech in front of global shapers and insisted
on promoting 3 big values:
1- The Respect of human dignity.
2- Serving the community more than yourself.
3- Be ready to face the challenges of
the next generations.
Shapers of the world, Are you READY?
Jordan,
May 20, 2017
