Levelling Up - Leadership in Our Youth | Elliott Lea | TEDxVictor Harbor

Core Argument - The speech advocates for fostering leadership skills in children from a young age by encouraging real-life experiences and challenges, rather than solely focusing on digital achievements [2][7][8] - It emphasizes the importance of developing qualities like bravery, patience, resilience, problem-solving, teamwork, and empathy to prepare future leaders for real-world issues [8][11] - The speech introduces a "leveling up" framework for leadership development, suggesting a game-like approach to encourage growth in confidence, teamwork, responsibility, and mentorship [15][16][17][18] Problem Statement - Excessive screen time among children (average 15 hours per week for ages 5-15) is highlighted as a concern, potentially hindering the development of essential life and leadership skills [6][7] - The speech warns against a generation prioritizing short-term digital wins over real-life experiences, which could lead to a loss of hope, purpose, confidence, and courage [9] - Traditional views of leadership are challenged, suggesting that leadership development should start early and focus on building fundamental skills and values [13][15] Proposed Solution - Encourage adults to provide children with opportunities to take on real-life challenges that are slightly above their current abilities, fostering resilience, confidence, and self-worth [7][15] - Implement a "leveling up" system with stages like "power up" (building confidence), "team up" (collaboration), "boss mode" (taking responsibility), "share the tips" (mentorship), and "game on" (leading change) to make leadership development fun and accessible [17][18] - Promote environments at home and school that allow children to take small risks, learn from failures, and develop resilience, supported by guidance rather than excessive control [13][15] Key Traits for Leadership - Know your values [11] - Self-belief [11] - Empathy [11]