Yesterday, the co-founders of Global Dignity, His Royal Highness Crown Prince Haakon of Norway, Professor Pekka Himanen of Finland (the youngest Ph.D in Finland) and myself, coordinated with the help from our friends at Roland Berger Strategic Consultants, went into a leading school in Zurich, Switzerland to conduct Dignity Day, Zurich. As usual, the young people did not disappoint.
The more I have these experiences, the more deeply I believe that our job is simply to get out of these young people’s way. Convince them that we believe in them, endow them with permission to become fully themselves, and they blossom like the most amazing flower (right before you) every time.
As we have traveled around the world doing these Dignity Days, I have also learned that all young people are essentially the same; they cry the same, laugh the same, have the same hopes, dreams and desires, and they frustrate — just the same. Reason for hope, actually.
This was one in a series of our Dignity Days, which we have now completed in countless countries around the world, and I was deeply honored to be a part of this experience with these amazing young people here. They give me hope and confidence that maybe our next generation of leaders will get things right. I look forward to coming back.
A special thank you to Beatrix Morath of Roland Berger, and as well the Forum of Young Global Leaders.
– Posted by John Hope Bryant
John Hope Bryant is the founder, chairman and CEO of Operation HOPE and Bryant Group Companies, Inc., author of bestselling business book LOVE LEADERSHIP: The New Way to Lead in a Fear-Based World (Jossey-Bass), and member of the U.S. President’s Advisory Council on Financial Capability