This is my second piece in a row about the idea of promoting what I call "the good leadership", the foundational concept that should underpin each citizen's approach to life and to the communities they live in. The so called "good leadership" is a combination of civic engagement, positive attitudes and a spirit of self-initiative embedded with positive values that help propel a person's sense of responsibility towards others.

Are the youths really interested in all this "stuff" or do they prefer faster and easier gratification from other types of initiatives and undertakings? Recently, just before co-delivering a session on a course on the Sustainable Development Goals that a group of talented youths is helping organise, I got struck by a beautiful, attractive poster. It was an amazing example of marketing. Well designed, engaging, the use of the right words. Yet, probably, the most attractive thing was the event that was being promoted: a public speaking contest targeting youths, with a pretty nice cash prize.

I have nothing against public speaking. But while dealing with trainings, I certainly, categorically affirm that public speaking is not my cup of tea. I have been to Toastmasters events, the famous and very professionally run public speaking network of practitioners. Though I was generously invited, I found it was quite expensive to attend the weekly meetings, but that was not my main concern.

My issue with public speaking is that while it can help a youth or a professional in her career, I always believed that it was essential to first "invest" and making a true effort in building the foundations of a person's life journey. This goes right to the roots of personal leadership: positive values, the ability to identify our strengths while acknowledging our gaps and areas of improvement and focussing on the right, big goals where, as Angela Duckworth taught us, we need to use (and develop) our grit.

The problem is that the whole universe is instead geared towards quick wins, the ability to impress others, the capacity to influence and impress others – a reason why public speaking is so valued. There is still this dominating concept of leadership that is almost exclusively about bringing others behind you. My problem with this understanding is that leadership is not just about dealing with followers but rather about helping them to self-empower and become themselves leaders of their own lives. Unfortunately, not many persons are convinced of this approach to leadership. Consequentially, it is not surprising that public speaking is so much in demand.

In contrast, the "Good Leadership" can be a hard sell. People, youths struggle to take the right steps to propel themselves in doing good while making good. Probably it is also an issue of branding. Think about the SDGs. The youths hardly care about them. They know about them, but then they struggle to realise how their future lives (and successes) are really dependent on achieving them.

If you propose a course about them, you struggle to explain the rationale as to why working on the SDGs can truly make a difference, especially if we talk about localising them, ensuring that these goals are also talked, discussed and, yes, implemented locally. Rather than abstract, high level set of targets and indicators, the SDGs should be seen as the most practical, tangible tools to improve our lives and ensure the planet's survival.

Focussing on them is one of the best chances youths can have to change, even on a small scale, the world, and in doing so, they can nourish and develop expertise, knowledge and also practical skills that will be relevant for their future careers. It is really about putting into practice the whole concept of good leadership. You build knowledge though peer sharing and co-creation, and through this knowledge, you forge new expertise, the pillar without which smart policy making cannot happen. Because good leadership is really, at the end, also about policy making and decision making.

Youths should care about doing so because the "polity" in Nepal needs a revamp. We need a new way of doing politics based on a concept of "shared" responsibilities and co-decisions, called "deliberative democracy".

But the Good Leadership is also about taking actions, on our own or in a team of people, to bring direct change. Volunteering, a pillar of civic engagement, itself one of the best expressions of the "Good Leadership", is also another great way to bring change, especially if it is done in partnership with state actors.

We need to build this type of knowledge, expertise and offer chances to practise them.

The bottom line is: Youths follow the trends and certain dynamics emerging in the society. Unless something is shining and sparkling, they will hardly throw in their efforts. Yet the most amazing life achievements are not the ones that are immediately visible. Think about the latest fashion of scaling Mount Everest. It is not only super expensive but can be also lethal, and if done on a massive commercial way, disrespectful of the sacred mountain. Yet it has become one of the coolest things to do, if you can afford it. But do we need to prove ourselves this way? Being able to step up, raise your hand and speak your opinion in an eloquent way is a good thing.

But it is not the only thing and, for sure, not the only way to define the way others should see us. Perhaps, sometimes it is even good to go unnoticed and keep doing the hard work that would gratify us, to paraphrase Coach John Wooden, real teacher of the "Good Leadership", you feel you did everything you could to become the best of yourself.

And, let's not forget, that winning sometimes does not make you better than others.

Galimberti is the pro bono co-founder of ENGAGE and pro-bono co-initiator of the Good Leadership.

A version of this article appears in the print on June 21, 2023, of The Himalayan Times.