What Does It Take to Be a Youth Leader?

What does it take to step up as a youth leader in a world that’s constantly changing?

In this episode, Phoebe and Adam - International Youth Representatives for The Duke of Edinburgh’s International Award Foundation - break down how their Award journeys shaped their confidence, resilience, empathy, and critical thinking. From navigating international conferences to the unbeatable value of learning by doing, they explore why essential human skills are more critical now than ever.

Phoebe Li is a passionate advocate for youth voice, equity, and global citizenship. She was an Assistant Coordinator for the New Zealand Model Parliament 2025 and volunteered with UNYouth. Through her IYR role, Phoebe is committed to amplifying youth perspectives—especially from Pacific and underrepresented communities—in global discussions around leadership, education, and equity. 

Adam Proksch is a medical student and Regional Coordinator for the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award in the Czech Republic, and a passionate advocate for mentorship, lifelong learning, and youth engagement. Now serving as an International Youth Representative, Adam is focused on strengthening the Award’s global community by building platforms that connect participants, alumni, and mentors. 

Hosted by Oksana Dobrovolska, Communications Officer at The Duke of Edinburgh's International Award Foundation

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Transcript

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SPEAKER_02 0:04

Hello and welcome back to Beyond Their World. As we've recently marked World Youth Skills Day, the global conversation is heavily focused on digital transformation, AI, and technical readiness. But while those tools are vital, they only work if we have the foundational human skills to guide them. Things like problem solving, resilience, team building, empathy, and the confidence to take initiative. Today we are asking how do people actually build those human skills and why are they so essential right now? To explore this, I'm joined by Phoebe and Adam, our international youth representatives. Adam, and you represented youth at the Europe, the Mediterranean and Arab States regional conference. What was that experience like to you?

SPEAKER_00 0:47

Yeah, the EMAS conference in Malta was an amazing experience for me. If I had to describe it in one word, it would be executive. And why? Because very often when young people are invited to these international events, it can feel a bit symbolic. Like we are just there to smile and take photos. But Malta conference was different. I wasn't just attending, I was actively facilitating the Operational Calibery Conference. For example, I had the incredible honor of co-hosting the opening session and facilitating our global threats of impact panel. And this panel was a deep dive into the real challenges young people face today, the human skills they urgently need for their futures, and how the world must evolve to support and Fidbe, what about you?

SPEAKER_01 1:44

I found that an overarching theme within these conversations during the conference was the importance of human skills itself. Growth and how to essentially prepare the youth for the landscape ahead. For us, the this wasn't just how human skills was important, but how that can be built into the award and bring that level of critical thinking that youth needs to navigate these kind of new landscapes that do face us. So ultimately, I thought that this was a massively essential message. What kind of skills we need to equip to the youth for the world that they're stepping into.

SPEAKER_02 2:33

That kind of brings us to the next topic of the conversation. Because I would like to talk about what skills got you here. And I don't only mean the specific conferences, but in general your youth leadership roles and making it part of your lives. Because when people talk about skills, they often picture like classroom learning or technical qualification, but the award focuses heavily on learning by doing, on experiential learning. Phoebe, looking back at your own award journey, what experiences or skills gained through the awards were most important for you on the path to becoming a young leader?

SPEAKER_01 3:12

I think the biggest skill here was being in the volunteering section, which has really reinforced for me that leadership really truly lies in service of others. It's pushed me to actively listen and to work at seeing things from an award participant's perspective rather than kind of being blinded by my own experience, which then leads into those levels of human skills where you're able to meet people where they are at rather than expecting them to meet yourself at where you are. So largely that's been a result of the unique and definitely privileged opportunities presented to me during this entire award, where was able to connect in person and online with a lot of communities around.

SPEAKER_00 4:24

But when I stood at that ceremony and looked around the room, it was incredible feeling. I suddenly saw tens of young people who are exactly like me, driven, focused, and willing to push past their limits to reach a goal. And the energy in that room was a massive wave of motivation for me. And I looked at that crowd and I realized these are the people I want to surround myself with, and these are the people I want to collaborate with in the future. And that was the moment I realized I could step up and take on more responsibility.

SPEAKER_02 5:14

Was there a point during those conferences or other international events where you felt that because of what you've learned through the awards, you now know how to navigate a difficult situation or a specific moment?

SPEAKER_00 5:28

I think that for me, and situation on IG and Forum, and even at EMAS regional conference in Malta, uh when I saw the youth co-ownership, and I think that youth co-ownership is absolutely possible. Uh, it works incredibly well if adults give them the chance. Um seeing national directors actually listening, taking notes during the sessions I led alongside Isa, who's my friend, and the other IYR for the EMAS region. And they were actually altering their strategic plans based on the youth perspective, and that was incredibly validating for me. And it proved to me that we aren't just benefiting from the program, but we are the architects of its future.

SPEAKER_01 6:22

I've seen so many young award participants or even award alumni that have tried and taken these opportunities provided to them to go up on stage to deliver a speech, um, to deliver any sort of messages, or even perform as well for everybody involved, whether that be their first time, second time, or even like their hundredth time, they've all expressed levels of anxiousness to me prior and gone up to the stage so confident and able to do um and spread the message that they wanted to. So that's been really inspiring in terms of seeing how everybody um has that ability to step up and take the stage and learn um and be able to kind of grow their confidence that way.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

I think when we talk about the words impact, when we do our research and surveys among the participants, building the confidence definitely is one of the top well impact people feel in their life. So it's great to hear that even those who are already quite experienced, like you both, in being in international spaces, being on stage, public speaking, and so on, you still feel like you keep building your confidence. And I think that's a beautiful point that all these human skills, they are there to be learned, to be developed, and everyone can work on them and develop them. But going back a little bit to technical skills, of course, we are living in the time when technology is moving faster than ever, it's so rapidly developing. And for everyone listening, whether it's young people who want to start their award, or a parent maybe who is interested, or even award leaders and supporters, I would like you both to share why you think that these human skills are so critical for the future and why we can't rely solely on digital literacy.

SPEAKER_01 8:16

I think in these kind of interchanging landscapes where we have AI, we have so many similar different um technologies that are emerging, it's quite essential to learn human skills, which are essentially the skills that we use to relate to one another. When we have so much technology being able to replace so many of these attributes within the world, the only thing we really have left is each other, is that level of humanity and that ability to connect with each other and be able to have that level of empathy and interpersonal skills as well. So I think the importance of that doesn't lie in being able to get a job later, or being able to learn AI the fastest you can, because I think those technologies are all we're going to outgrow those technologies as well. It's a message mostly for the people who are scared about kind of the emergence of AI, the climate, and where the future of humanity is essentially heading. Um, it's okay to be scared. The world is changing faster than any of us can predict, and that's really unsettling. Um, but the answer itself is not that you have to solve climate change or reshape how AI gets built or dealt with, but you can engage. You can be one of those youth that chooses to understand these issues with critical thinking and empathetically rather than looking away from them and finding a community of people who are doing the same. Because none of this is stuff that you need to carry alone. It's not waking up and looking at your phone and um looking at all this um media that is telling us about the dumerism of the world itself. But um growth for us is not knowing um and figuring out things in advance. It's it's being willing to essentially keep going after the setbacks after all of these challenges that are facing us.

SPEAKER_00 10:05

I think uh the technical knowledge, the hard skills you learn today might be completely outdated in five or ten years, and we already have algorithms that can analyze data and process information faster than we ever could. But what a machine cannot replicate is empathy. It cannot replicate adaptability, complex problem solving under the pressure or the ability to bring a team together, such a leader does. I think that today a great leader is no longer the person who just memorizes through real rules or tons of information. We have AI for that, as you've said previously. Great leader is the person who can step into a chaotic situation, keep their calm, and make the best possible decision of the facts they have at that current moment. It is about having the mental endurance, the filter out the noise, and not react purely on emotion. And this is exactly what you learn on an adventurous journey during the award because not every time things go according to the plan. You're physically exhausted, the might suddenly uh gone terrible, and your team's morale is starting to drop. And at that exact moment, you don't have the luxury of just giving up and you have to learn how to manage your own stress, stay calm, and figure out how to keep your team moving forward safely. Because if you can learn to be comfortable and the uncomfortable, you're actively building the mental endurance you will need when the actual crisis comes.

SPEAKER_02 11:53

It's a great point. I especially like what you, Adam, said, about bringing the team together. I don't think we can ever rely on technology to do that. And I think we kind of came to a conclusion here that while we can't ignore the importance of technical knowledge in the modern world, the human skills are essential to navigate it and use this knowledge for good. And before we wrap up, I would like you to advise our listeners what's one simple thing they can try and do every day in their daily life to start developing human skills, they need to be future ready.

SPEAKER_00 12:31

I think that I have like four or five. Uh I would highly recommend finding small ways to be intentionally uncomfortable in your daily routine. Just to have a simple short conversation with someone who holds a completely different opinion than you do, and just listen because arguing. Or if you always study with music, try studying in complete silence. Pick up a complex hobby where you know you'll be absolutely terrible at and try it at least for one week or one month. Or pick one day a week where you completely disconnect from news and social media and do a digital detox for yourself.

SPEAKER_01 13:16

I've got a similar message in the sense of um the quote, closed mouths don't get fed. Um there's two outcomes to this is firstly rejection, right? If you ask for something and you get rejected, you learn um and build the confidence to continue pushing and asking for things regardless and to be able to achieve those kind of dreams, not letting a simple no kind of stop you in your path of achieving what you want to do. And then secondly, if you do get that opportunity because you asked for it, that's that's the best thing, is is the worst that they can say is genuinely no. So if you if if you do want something, um ask for it. And that's probably something like actively seeking out feedback instead of waiting for someone to offer it, or it's um asking for that next opportunity that you've been really thinking about, um, or even just asking a person to be your friend or something that could help you in the long run as well.

SPEAKER_02 14:15

So I love this advice, and I hope our listeners can try them and maybe share with us how that goes. And to everyone listening, whether you are in a world participant stepping out of your comfort zone today or in a world leader supporting them on that journey, thank you for being part of this community. Join us next time on Be On The Award.