Memoir of a Gen Z Student Leader

As a student leader born in Generation Z (Gen Z), my volunteering experience has taught me that the ability to collaborate and entrepreneurial skills are some of the most important qualities a student leader has to possess in this Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) world Gen Zs live in today. 

When I was in JC1, I was part of the organising committee for a volunteering project with the aim to raise awareness and funds for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Foundation by pushing out initiatives such as a bake sale and an online concert.

When preparing for our bake sale, we had to contact many local bakeries through Instagram to ask if they are willing to work with us for our project. We initially encountered difficulties as many bakeries did not reply to our emails. It was only after sending emails to multiple bakeries that two of them eventually agreed to collaborate with us. This taught me some basic entrepreneurship skills as I learnt how to negotiate with stakeholders. This appeals to Gen Z student leaders because it teaches us problem solving skills to navigate our VUCA world. 

Another initiative we initially wanted to push out was an online concert where we could engage local influencers to perform in hopes of spreading awareness of our beneficiary to the general public. However, after much deliberation, we realised that organising an online concert would be difficult as many influencers already had prior schedules and were unable to work with us. Hence, we decided to organise an escape room instead of an online concert. The escape room’s preparation entailed outsourcing for external vendors who were willing to lend us their venues.

We did so by communicating with vendors through emails, and we eventually settled with a local dance studio who agreed to lend us their studio space. Gen Z student leaders value teamwork because it teaches them to work with different perspectives in our increasingly diverse world. Moreover, today’s VUCA world values collaboration highly as challenges are complex and multifaceted. In such a climate, the value of teamwork needed to solve these intricate problems appeals to Gen Zs. 

In retrospect, this volunteering experience is the most meaningful leadership project I have taken on, as it taught me the importance of teamwork and entrepreneurship. Teamwork was one of the main reasons why my team was able to succeed in our project. We were initially in a huge dilemma on whether we should scrap our online concert idea and come up with our own escape room storyline from scratch instead. Each team member had to provide feedback on other member’s ideas. As student leaders, being able to work well in teams is an integral part of leadership, especially for Gen Zs as we grow up in an era of collaboration and information sharing. 

Additionally, having an entrepreneurial spirit proved useful when we were organising our bake sale. We acquired the skill of promoting our bake sale in a manner that resonated favourably with bakeries, ensuring that the terms of collaboration were favourable to them as well. While publicising our bake sale on Instagram to our schoolmates, we had to advertise our bake sale in a creative manner that allowed us to stand out from the other volunteering projects. This taught me that having an entrepreneurial spirit is not just useful, but also essential when it comes to liaising with stakeholders. Furthermore,

It is essential for teachers to recognise that teamwork and entrepreneurship are some skills that appeal to Gen Z student leaders. In fact, these skills are trained through the Young Trailblazers competition. In this competition, students work in teams to suggest solutions to modern day problems and sell their ideas to industry leaders who would advise students on how to better their proposals. I hope that through my sharing, teachers would realise that learning the values of teamwork and entrepreneurship are what Gen Zs need to thrive in the workforce today. There is surely no better time to instil these values in students than right now.