Sydney Secondary Youth Leadership Conference report by Matthew Yong
On Thursday week 8, our SRC’s Year 10s and 11s attended the Sydney Secondary Youth Leadership Conference at the ICC. Over the five or so hours, established speakers educated us on their personal growth and experiences with leadership, along with essential topics relevant to all. This event was extremely engaging and surprisingly enjoyable, tailored effectively to youth.
Upon entering, we were welcomed by DJ Lachie, house lights and enthusiastic hosts Bonnie and Amanda. Immediately after beginning with activities, the discussions began with goal setting. Next were Bonnie, Amanda and Wil’s talks, covering finding where you belong, taking a chance and self-leadership. Next we began with the communication framework for difficult conversations and a Venn diagram of different leadership styles. Following this was a Q&A with Year 12 student Anna and a game of Simon Says – leading to choosing between blame and excuses instead of agency and ownership. After the last break followed talks by Varsha and Bradley, further discussion on empathy and change, smaller student participation and the completion of the event with commentary from Rose Jackson of the NSW Government. During breaks we had time to connect with other like-minded students and even gather their contact information. Overall, the experience was fun and engaging – with content not just for people like SRC members but relevant for any student. Further notes on each talk are below:
How to set your goal and achieve it, Set your goal, Write it down (improving completion by 42%), Verbalise it (improving completion by 65%)
Finding Where You Belong – Bonnie Ryan-Rowe “Any belonging that requires you to be someone different isn’t true belonging. True belonging requires us to be who we are.” Bonnie explored this concept in her talk about her journey to self-acceptance. As a youth growing up in a split household, her parents held different perspectives on what she should become. Combined with her friends’ expectations, this led to her introducing and presenting herself differently. This false persona was based on others she wanted to fit in with, sending a damaging personal message to herself that she was not worthy of being unique. Ultimately, her message focused on finding people who might not be the same ‘shape’ as you but uplift each other and don’t force you to act differently.
Taking a chance – Amanda Marshall “Take the chance and leave your comfort zone.” Amanda’s talk focused on her experience with taking opportunities, especially if they are outside your comfort zone. Working as a teacher in Melbourne, she suddenly received an opportunity to work with the AFL in the Northern Territory – leading her to connect and learn from the Indigenous peoples, creating precious bonds and memories that would last a lifetime. Her story reflected how leaving your comfort zone is the only way to grow – although it is safe and good to remain in it, breaking out of your cocoon is necessary to grow further (while overcoming the required challenges and struggles).
Her method for doing so was, Breaking it down (asking yourself what the next step is), Choosing kindness (backing yourself up, doing your best), Breathing (moving out of fear and into action)
Self-leadership without limits – Wil Massara “Your age doesn’t determine your ability to achieve amazing things.” From a young age, Wil’s special obsession was planes. So, he began his first business website ‘Planeapedia’ when starting secondary school, leading him to be invited to media events for major airlines at the age of 15. Eventually, he founded the very YLAA (Youth Leadership Academy Australia) in Year 11 whose leaders conference he was speaking to us at. Despite this, his journey was not without struggles, and he discussed the fear of being too young to make a change. Some important topics he spoke on included, Self-care – To pour something out of a cup, you must first fill it up. To lead others with energy and care is to first care for yourself and recharge. This includes spending more time around people who energise and uplift you. The cycle of self-leadership, Mindset (get the right mindset – see what you feel, think, want to give and get out of leading) leads to Emotion (check your emotions – if you don’t want to lead, don’t do it!) which leads to Action (either lead or step back) which repeats the cycle. Acknowledging control, there is a circle of things that you can control (such as your actions or what you show others) and most things are outside it (for example your friends, the weather or what others think of you). Acknowledging what you can and can’t control is an important act that is relevant in all areas of life. Improvement mindset, doing 1% better on something daily = 37 times better than where you started in a year. Declining by 1% every day = Almost going down to zero in a year.
A&A method for discussions: Approach: What I see – Note what happened in your perspective. What I feel – Share your perspective. What next – Ask them to rectify
Apology: Ownership – Acknowledge what happened. Apologise – Say sorry. What next – Ask what they would like you to do
Leadership styles: Director – Leading from the front (taking charge, using assertive body language)
Peer – Leading from the side (working with others, using similar body language)
Supporter – Leading from behind (uplifting others, focusing on them)
Each of these styles is important and good in different contexts. You may be able to find one that you use often but know that different situations often call for different (or a mix of) leadership styles.
Leading as a human – Anna King As a Year Twelve student, Anna is an incredibly inspiring leader within her school community and discussed an important topic during her Q&A. Anna commented on how sharing ideas for change inspires more and that initiatives that action these ideas can take off when shared with others and supported by a great network, but her focus was on how leaders are still human. “Don’t always say yes…”, she stated, even if someone thinks they can take everything on – always helping and doing all they can to support and lead others, “…because you’re still human”. Anna shared that allowing yourself to make mistakes can be difficult but can even improve how others view you. “People don’t want to see a facade”, and in fact “pressuring yourself to be perfect… diminishes your leadership abilities”. Her answers were empowering and uplifting, reaffirming that nobody is perfect and “anyone can be a leader”.
Simon Says and Owning Up – Bonnie Ryan-Rowe After a surprisingly difficult game of Simon Says, Bonnie launched into how different reactions to mistakes reflect on yourself as a leader. Pinning the blame and making excuses instead of owning up to losing is tied to real life – for example, how someone can make excuses for not completing a task, blame someone else for making a mistake or lie about a result. Similarly, Bonnie stated that taking agency in owning up to mistakes is also reflective – like acknowledging a mistake and accepting the responsibility (just like the A&A method). Her conclusion on telling the truth was particularly noticeable, in that though this was a simple game of Simon Says, we want to send the message to others that we can be trusted and have agency as a leader.
Leading yourself and others – Varsha Yajman A climate activist completing her university degree, Varsha led us through her story of how she grew up both with an eating disorder and anxiety. She focused on how important it is to believe in yourself even if nobody else does or you can’t see anybody with similar issues, stating that if you push through despite all of the struggles, you can lead others in the same direction. Her experience with the HSC and coordinating a Climate Protest was recounted, describing that being a leader in both her household and for other peers allowed her to make a change – if she stepped back instead of persevering, she would never have been able to achieve what she had. Varsha also noted that the word ‘leadership’ has been thrown around a lot and that her younger self thought it was the badges that people wore or the speeches they gave, but redefined it as leading by example and also caring for yourself.
What is Empathy? Wil took his shoes off and Amanda stood in (behind) them. Using this analogy, they presented the misconception that empathy means ‘standing in someone else’s shoes’. “Instead of feeling his very warm shoes,” Amanda laughed, “empathy is holding space for what other people feel. It does not mean completely understanding them or trying to gain all comprehension of what they feel but instead leaning into what they want. This ties into empathy for our schools and communities – leaning into what they want creates change.
What is Change? Frustration (what we’ve seen around us that doesn’t work for us or don’t want) + Excitement (engagement with the topic) = Inspiration. Inspiration (A passion for a frustration) + Agency (Making an action to rectify this frustration) = Change.
Overcoming – Bradley Dryburgh Bradley’s heartbreaking but extremely inspirational talk was of particular impact – a narrative of his life and the value of life. Born with Cystic Fibrosis, he recounted gaining countless diseases and ailments throughout his life but despite this, his parents always had a positive outlook and uplifted him. “What you believe is what you become,” he stated, reflecting on his parents’ choice to change doctors when their first specialist told them Brad wouldn’t survive his teenage years. After 18 years of incredible health and familial support, he had a massive hospital scare and genuinely believed he was going to die. “Confucius’s quote ‘We have two lives, and the second begins when we realise we only have one’ is true”, he said, because for himself (and many others) “today is a gift, tomorrow is a privilege”. After running marathons with his condition, Brad truly showed his determination to prove that he could continue and do all he could to live his life in a way that honours his blessing of survival and inspires others with CF. He prompted us to do the same with a loaded question; “If you could write a book about yourself, what would you want it to say?”
Leadership – Hon. Rose Jackson, MLC The Minister for Youth, Rose Jackson, attended the conference and closed it off with a few words about her experience with leadership. She commented that doing something without following others and speaking out on things that you feel strongly about means that you are making a change. Similarly to Anna King, the Hon. Rose Jackson declared that “any individual can change the world, including you.”
