I chose this topic because I have been in a number of
conferences recently and this question kept being popped up. Just incase you’re
wondering what my answer is…here we go…"I believe AIESEC is DEFINITELY VERY RELEVANT
to the world”. But that is just the tip of ice berg. The real question that
most people fail to adequately understand or get answers to is; WHY
is AIESEC relevant in the world today?
To tackle this question of WHY I will use this illustration.
Malcom Gladwell, a renown author in the field of success in one of his works once
said that it takes at least 10,000 hours of practice before anyone can be good at
anything. He even went ahead and researched/interviewed hundreds of famous people
who by any means fit the description of successful people (some even legends).
This people include: - Bill Gates and the likes; people who made numerous
contributions to the world and managed to achieve great impact. Okay, enough about Malcolm Gladwell, the point
is, it takes at least 10,000hours of practice in something before you can
become really good at it and achieve great impact. (I did not say I am reading the book by the title: Outliers, but it
would be good for you guys to read it, isn’t it?….lol)
Now, if it takes a minimum of 10,000hrs of practice then
if we work out how long this is in term of years it sums up to about four
years. So it is safe to conclude that it takes a minimum of around 4 years of consistent
practice at something for you to be really good at it and maybe become a genius
in it.
Fast forward, leadership is one of core facets of AIESEC. AIESEC
offers leadership experiences through Global internships, Executive boards, OC’s,
Team leaders and the list goes on. That is where relevance comes in, in a big
way. If it takes 10,000 hours of
practice to be good at something, then it will take 10,000 hours of raw leadership
experience for any individual to become a phenomenal leader. How do you get all
this hours of raw practice while after you are through with your college studies,
you get a job as a low level manager and before you know it you are married, kids
come your way and all the commitments that come with adulthood come your way? 
AIESEC to the rescue
But that is where AIESEC becomes the EPIC student run
organization that it is. AIESEC gives you an opportunity to lead a team, a
country a continent or even the globe while still young, still fresh and still open
to the world. When you’re young, the ideals you buy into and experiences you
live end up dominating your perceptions and we all know the power perception
has on our brains.
I guess what I’m trying to say is that without knowing, four
or more years of experiences in AIESEC might be the best thing you ever did in
your career. It might be the best thing you ever did in your life. So be warned
/be advised.
