You're Never Too Young To Lead: Powerful Lessons in Chasing Dreams and Finding Purpose

By Lord Leomer B Pomperada and Demy Cruz Jr.

This is the story of Lord Leomer B. Pomperada, who became the youngest ever President-elect of the global youth organization World Youth Alliance (WYA) at age 23. You're Never Too Young To Lead is a collection of personal anecdotes containing Pomperada's thoughts on how to grow into a global youth leader. In th

• Language: English
• Publisher: WYA Foundation
• Release date: Jan 20, 2023
• ISBN: 9781088081297

Book preview

LESSON 1

DEVELOP HABITS OF EXCELLENCE

We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, then, is not an act, but a habit.

—Aristotle

It was a Spring morning in New York. It was also a Monday and the first day of our global staff meeting, and I had just finished eating my Filipino breakfast of garlic rice, fried egg, and longganisa. My calendar notified me of my meeting with Anna Halpine, founder of World Youth Alliance (WYA). Today was the day she would be announcing the results of the search for the next WYA President. Like everyone else on the shortlist, I was excited to find out who it would be. My heart pounded as I headed to the office library to meet with Anna. After exchanging our customary pleasantries, she gave me the news, The Board has selected you to be the next WYA President. I felt a rush of energy. Really? I asked. I couldn’t believe it and I was lost for words. Anna confirmed the news with a smile. I thanked her for her trust and for a new opportunity to continue serving the world’s youth through WYA.

That day changed my life forever, and in ways I had never imagined.

When I deliver lectures at schools or speak at youth conferences, young people frequently ask me, How did you become WYA President? It is always a pleasure to see curious faces wanting to know more about how a 23-year-old Filipino was chosen to head WYA. Of course, sharing the details of the search is easy. But I suppose the bigger question in their minds is, how does one assume the huge responsibility of leading a global youth movement? In my case, I believe that it was my collective leadership experience that prepared me for the role. More importantly, the habits that I developed growing up were the key to my success.

The habits that I developed growing up were the key to my success.

BEGIN WITH THE RIGHT ATTITUDE IN MIND

One of my favorite subjects in my International Affairs and Diplomacy master’s program was negotiation. Life is a series of negotiations, our professor would often remind us. Whether you’re asking permission from your parents to go out with your friends, or asking your professor for a second chance after missing a deadline, you’ll find that negotiation is a part of life and that learning its techniques can be beneficial.

One of the key lessons was about win-win negotiation, where the goal is for both parties to leave the table feeling happy and content about the outcome. I’ve observed that, usually, many people have a win-lose attitude. They believe it is their right to gain something extra, even if it is at another person’s expense. This often results in both parties losing. We were taught that the key to a successful negotiation is to understand what the other party wants. Similar to forming habits, the starting point of becoming a good negotiator is to have the right attitude in mind. A good negotiator will always seek a win-win outcome. Applied to everyday situations, it is our attitude that determines how we will accomplish our goals and if we can be successful in meeting them.

I also grew up loving the great outdoors. In high school, I was an active member of the Boy Scouts of the Philippines. As a scout, I learned how to be a good leader, persevere amidst challenges, and do my best in my craft.

My experiences in scouting were an early lesson in developing the right attitude. This is essential because as a leader, your attitude greatly influences others, especially those you lead. One time, my troop and I got lost on a hike. We were one river away from completing the trek when the rain suddenly poured, and the leader of the last troop shouted, Stop! He advised us to turn back. We looked for an alternate route with the help of a local guide, but could not find our way back after almost five hours. We kept going, but decided to stop. I could see everyone’s exhaustion, but also saw that they remained calm. Don’t worry. They’re going to find us, said a fellow scout. We shared our snacks and our water, and waited. Finally, just a few moments before midnight, a Philippine Army team came to rescue us and lead us back down the mountain.

This unforgettable experience inspired some of my fellow Venturer Scouts and me to apply to become Eagle Scouts, the highest rank in the program. To achieve this position, we needed to secure 21 merit badges and pass an assessment by the Board of Review. What made this even more challenging was that it had been over 30 years since our province, Antique, had produced an Eagle Scout. This gave our dream even more meaning. We weren’t just doing it for ourselves or for our school, but also for our province.

Our group of 15 started to work on getting our 21 merit badges. Working together made the journey more fun! The tests included wilderness survival training, which required us to learn how to build our own shelter, in our case, a tent made of ropes, branches, and leaves. We completed all of the badges and tests after almost a year.

The final step was passing an assessment by the Board of Review. Again, my friends and I studied together. Sometimes, we would fail our practice exams and become discouraged. But we kept going and found many ways to help each other. For example, some of us weren’t as good at tying knots, so the better scouts among us trained us. I can’t emphasize enough that the friendship that we developed was the real gift of this experience.

On the day of our Board of Review, we took turns answering the panel interview. The results were mixed: some of us were high scorers but others did not score enough to pass. Upon hearing this, our top scorer offered to share some of his scores with the low scorers, and the other high scorers followed suit. This was the key to solving the last challenge, which turned out to be a test of teamwork. That day, all of us became Eagle Scouts. What seemed to be a daunting task was possible after all.

Becoming an Eagle Scout was one of my proudest moments. It was one of my first experiences of having something to strive for. It instilled in me lessons of leadership and confidence, as well as a passion for serving others—most of all, those in the community. My friends and I learned the importance of deciding how to react, especially in challenging situations. Once again, it was our positive attitude that helped us overcome every challenge we faced and brought us closer to our goal.

DEVELOP SMALL HABITS TO MASTER YOUR CRAFT

In his book Tiny Habits: The Small Changes That Change Everything, Dr. BJ Fogg shares that the key to developing new behaviors is to start small. He recommends having an easy plan that you can commit to doing every day, can eventually develop into a new habit.

At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I wanted to develop a healthier lifestyle, so I decided to exercise daily. My goal was to lose weight, and a smaller goal I created to achieve this was to spend at least 30 minutes a day in active exercise, usually with the help of online videos. Developing this small daily habit was one of the key factors that helped me succeed in my weight loss journey.

A week before my 29th birthday, I also decided to enroll in a local gym. During this time, I had moved back to the Philippines and was working from home in Antique due to the pandemic. Besides wanting to lose weight, I wanted to find a new hobby outside of my work-from-home routine. It was my first time being trained and mentored by a professional coach. Again, I needed to develop small habits to achieve my target weight loss. One of these habits was to regularly weigh my food to have something visible to track and to avoid underestimating the amount of food I consumed. This is a common practice and helps