Former US President Barack Obama has called for more opportunities for younger voices in leadership.
Obama made the remarks while discussing the need for a new generation of leaders and thinkers.
He said younger people should have greater platforms to address the realities of the present day.
Obama said older leaders have valuable experience and wisdom, however, he argued that some may be less connected to today’s challenges.
He stressed the importance of identifying new leaders instead of relying only on established figures.
“Getting younger voices out there, giving them platforms, I think is really important. Identifying this generation of leaders as opposed to past generations of leaders, this generation of thinkers, rather than those who still have a lot of wisdom, but are not as attuned to the moment.”
Obama then turned his attention to what he described as a major challenge in global leadership.
“One of the challenges we face globally is old men clinging to power. And I say men very deliberately. They’re afraid of irrelevance, and de@th, and this has been a theme of humanity since its inception. And don’t encourage it,” he said.
His comments placed generational change at the centre of his wider argument about leadership.
The former president has recently spoken about the importance of bringing younger people into public life.
At Salem State University, Obama also said he was strongly focused on giving younger people platforms.
Obama’s comments do not suggest that experience has no value. Instead, he argued for greater space for emerging voices.
