We Need Leaders Like Patrick Awuah
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After growing up in Ghana, Patrick Awuah studied in Swarthmore College, in Pennsylvania, and later moved to Washington State to work for Microsoft. After several years in Microsoft, and after becoming a father, he came to the realization that the African continent was in dire need of better leaders. He saw an absence of ethical and creative thinking among those Africans who called themselves leaders in the political world, as well as in the business and educational worlds. Awuah felt compelled to act before it was too late for Africa to prevail against all its problems.
How did he do this?
He built a liberal arts college. This man realized that his country’s education system involved merely rote memorization. Students were trained to not be creative or critical. They were being trained to memorize, not to learn and lead. Patrick Awuah, after a process of studying its viability, established Ashesi University. Ashesi University is a private liberal-arts college in Ghana that aims to train true leaders. Students learn to be creative. They develop their critical-thinking skills. They learn how to THINK, not how to memorize.
I urge you to watch and listen this presentation by Patrick Awuah, taken from TED. It is truly inspiring. In it he states his diagnosis of Africa’s ills, tells how he came to realize what his mission was, and talks a bit about Ashesi University itself. It is filled with references to the importance of leadership in today’s society. Most of all, it is one of the purest examples of what a true leader is. Awuah spotted a need and took a step toward filling it, with no regard to hardship. Our society desperately needs more people like Patrick.
What can YOU take from Patrick?
