Transformational Leadership Blog

Over the course of the next two-three months, I will be covering a series of articles on Leadership Principles for youth. I initially planned for a twelve-part series but let’s see if I need to cover addition topics. This article was originally written for my first ministry blog, www.pinoyyouth.org/blog.

At age 23, Mark Zuckerberg successfully established Facebook.com, an online social networking website, and eased his way to become one of the world’s youngest millionaires. Just a decade or so before this young man broke into the scene, Bill Gates and Steve Jobs showed that sheer talent even without the confirmation of a college diploma is not necessary to make it big! Gates founded Microsoft and Steve Jobs, Apple Computers. They were both in their early twenties.

Increasingly, young people are learning to contribute meaningfully to our contemporary world. They want their voices to be heard. They want to express their passions in meaningful ways. They want to show the world that in spite of their years, they are a force to reckon with.

Movies and the entertainment world glorify youth. Have you seen how Lucy, Peter, Edmund and Susan save Narnia from the wicked White Witch? Or have you seen how Harry Potter, together with his rather special friends, battle against the forces of evil? Yes, their world is for the young. On the other hand, youth have come to mean an abdication of responsibility. The stage between childhood and adulthood where the youth can be carefree and not worry about responsibility.

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Every Monday, MightyRasing.com features A Leader’s Life — stories of people who contributed meaningfully to entrepreneurship, business, politics, environment and other spheres of life.

As one of the recipients of the 2010 Ramon Magsaysay Awards, AHM Noman Khan faced several odds and triumphed over them. He has shown the power of collaboration and passion!

Bangladesh has around 13 million people with disabilities. Although they are a significant component of the society, they tend to have very little access to basic services such as education, medical services, livelihood and even opportunities for a more productive life. They constitute around 10% of the population of developing countries and they are one of the most vulnerable and marginalized groups in the society.

How do you actually help people with disabilities cope with their situation and lead productive lives?

A.H.M. Noman Khan started his work of empowering people with disabilities in Bangladesh. Instead of just advocating for their concerns and their welfare. Instead, he aimed for overall development of people with disabilities. Noman Khan started out in government service. Instead of continuing in such a career path, however, he chose to do something for the poor. In 1995, he attended a community-based rehabilitation training in Indonesia. His eyes were proverbially opened and he focused on the issues of disability and understood the need to serve this marginalized sector of Bangladeshi population.

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This is now my 101st blog post at MightyRasing.com! It’s just amazing! I established this Transformational Leadership Blog back in January 2010 as a means of thinking about leadership and learning from the lives of leaders.

Today, instead of writing about leadership, I decided to do something different–I created a Video Blog entitled Mighty on Leadership. Every week I will upload a video via YouTube in addition to the written materials on this blog. The topics that the Video Blog will cover will be the same as the stuff I cover here–Personal Development, Transformational Leadership, Time Management and Social Entrepreneurship among others.

Here’s the first episode for your viewing pleasure!

A Filipino couple made it to the 2010 Ramon Magsaysay Awards!

Most Filipinos claim that we are good and that we can thrive in probably all kinds of environment and social situations. But if you take a look at the educational system of the Philippines, particularly, in science and technology, the realities are alarming! Science education in the Philippines suffers from unqualified teachers, poor facilities and equipment (imagine not being able to operate a real microscope in high school?), as well as unproductive methods of teaching. The number of scientists in the Philippines is so low that it is a source of shame in Asia! This is also why the number of scientific research, the quality of its universities as well as the performance of students are way below the average for Asian countries.

This issue is further confounded by the migration of Filipino scientists to countries that offer more opportunities for them. But Christopher Bernido and his wife, Ma. Victoria Carpio-Bernido showed the world what passion and good science teaching could do! They both came from privileged families. As such, they both earned doctorate degrees in Physics from the State University of New York. When they returned to the Philippines, they served as leaders of the National Institute of Physics at the University of the Philippines, Diliman, Quezon City in the 1980s. They displayed excellent research and teaching skills, together. Because of their excellence, they earned the respect of other scientists from all over the world.

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This week, we are featuring the recipients of the 2010 Ramon Magsaysay Awards in our “A Leader’s Life” segment.

China is perhaps the fastest growing economy in the world right now. But progress has its price. The bodies of water in China are being polluted. In fact, 70% of China’s rivers are already gravely contaminated. That’s bad for the health and for the livelihood of millions of China’s citizens!

Huai River, China’s third largest river, is among the most heavily polluted bodies of water in China. The river runs for more than 1,000 kilometers and it traverses 4 provinces. The Huai River provides an agricultural basin to more than 150 million people. But the problem is, irresponsible factories and industries are dumping millions of tons of waste and sewage into Huai River! No wonder, people consider it as the most polluted river in China.

To make things worse, there are now “cancer villages” near the Huai River. Lots of people are being afflicted by tumors and cancers because of the contaminated water.

Yes, the Huai River is dying. Fishes are dying. People are dying!

The Chinese government tried to implement a pollution control project amounting to billions in 1994. However, the impact could hardly be felt.

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