Patrick Awuah: Educating a new generation of African leaders

Translator: Kayo Hansen Reviewer: Kian Conteh

Like many of you here, I am trying to contribute

Somom mange af jer her, forsøger jeg at medvirke

towards a renaissance in Africa.

til en genopblomstring i Afrika.

The question of transformation in Africa

Spørgsmålet om forvandelse i Afrika

really is a question of leadership.

er egentlig et spørgsmål om ledelse.

Africa can only be transformed by enlightened leaders.

Afrika kan kun forvandles ved hjælp af oplyste ledere.

And it is my contention that the manner in which

og det er min påstand at måden

we educate our leaders is fundamental

vi uddanner vores ledere er fundamentalt

to progress on this continent.

for fremskridt på dette kontinent.

I want to tell you some stories that explain my view.

Jeg vil gerne fortælle jer nogle historier som forklarer mit synspunkt.

We all heard about the importance of stories yesterday.

Vi hørte om betydningsfulde historier i går.

An American friend of mine this year volunteered as a nurse in Ghana,

I år meldte en amerikansk ven sig frivilligt som sygeplejeske i Ghana.

and in a period of three months she came to a conclusion

og efter tree måneder kom hun til en konklusion

about the state of leadership in Africa

om ledelsens tilstand i Afrika

that had taken me over a decade to reach.

som havde taget mig over et årti at opnå.

Twice she was involved in surgeries

Hun var involveret i kirugi to gange

where they lost power at the hospital.

hvor de mistede elektricitet på hospitalet.

The emergency generators did not start.

Nødgeneratorerne startede ikke -

There was not a flashlight, not a lantern, not a candle --

der var ikke nogle lommelygter, lygter eller stearinlys.

pitch black.

Bulrende mørkt.

The patient's cut open, twice.

Patienten var skåret op - to gange.

The first time it was a C-section.

Første gang var det et kejsersnit

Thankfully, baby was out -- mother and child survived.

Gudskelov var babyen født - mor og baby overlevede.

The second time was a procedure that involved local anesthesia.

Den anden gang var det en operation med loakalbedøvelse.

Anesthetic wears off. The patient feels pain.

Bedøvelsen holder op med at virke. Patienten føler smerte.

He's crying. He's screaming. He's praying.

Han græder. Han skriger. Han beder.

Pitch black. Not a candle, not a flashlight.

Bulrende mørkt. Ingen stearinlys, ingen lommelygte.

And that hospital could have afforded flashlights.

og det hospital havde råd til lommelygter.

They could have afforded to purchase these things, but they didn't.

De kunne have råd til at købe disse ting men de gjorde det ikke.

And it happened twice.

Og det skete to gange.

Another time, she watched in horror as nurses watched a patient die

En anden gang, så hun sygeplejersker kigge på en døende patient

because they refused to give her oxygen that they had.

fordi de nægtede at give hende den ilt de havde.

And so three months later,

Tre måneder senere,

just before she returned to the United States,

lige før hun kom tilbage til Amerika,

nurses in Accra go on strike.

strejkede sygeplejerskene i Accra.

And her recommendation is

Og hendes foreslag er

take this opportunity to fire everyone, start all over again.

at bruge muligheden for at fyre dem allesammen, starte forfra.

Start all over again.

Starte forfra

Now what does this have to do with leadership?

Hvad har dette at gørre med ledelse?

You see, the folks at the ministry of health,

Ser du, fejlene ved sundhedsministeriet

the hospital administrators, the doctors, the nurses --

hospitalsadministrationen, lægerne, sygeplejeskerne -

they are among just five percent of their peers

de blandt de kun 5 procent af dere ligemænd

who get an education after secondary school.

som får en uddannelse efter folkeskolen.

They are the elite. They are our leaders.

De er eliten. De er vores ledere.

Their decisions, their actions matter.

Deres beslutninger, deres handlinger betyder noget.

And when they fail, a nation literally suffers.

Og når de fejler, lider en nation bogstaveligt talt.

So when I speak of leadership,

Så når jeg taler om ledelse. om foereskab,

I'm not talking about just political leaders.

talerjeg ikke kun om politiske ledere.

We've heard a lot about that.

Vi har hørt meget om det.

I'm talking about the elite.

Jeg taler om eliten.

Those who've been trained,

Dem, der er uddannet.

whose job it is to be the guardians of their society.

Hvis job er at være samfunds beskyttere.

The lawyers, the judges, the policemen, the doctors,

Advokater, dommere, politimænd, læger,

the engineers, the civil servants --

enginører, tjenestemænd -

those are the leaders.

de er lederne.

And we need to train them right.

og vi er nødt til at uddanne dem rigtigt.

Now, my first pointed and memorable experience with leadership in Ghana

Min første mindeværdige erfaring med ledelse i Ghana

occurred when I was 16 years old.

skete da jeg var 16 år gammel.

We had just had a military coup,

Vi havde lige haft et militærkup.

and soldiers were pervasive in our society.

og soldaterne var overalt i samfundet.

They were a pervasive presence.

De var et gennemtrængende tilstedeværelse.

And one day I go to the airport to meet my father,

og en dag tager jeg til lufthavnen for at hente min far,

and as I walk up this grassy slope from the car park

og da jeg går op ad en skåning fra parkeringspladsen

to the terminal building,

til terminalen,

I'm stopped by two soldiers wielding AK-47 assault weapons.

bliver jeg stoppet af to soldater med AK-47 geværer.

And they asked me to join a crowd of people

Og de bad mig gå om at gå hen til en gruppe mennesker

that were running up and down this embankment.

som løb op og ned af en vold.

Why? Because the path I had taken was considered out of bounds.

Hvorfor? Fordi den vej jeg havde taget ikke var tilladt.

No sign to this effect.

Ingen skilte med det.

Now, I was 16. I was very worried about

Jeg var 16. Jeg var bekymret om

what my peers at school might think

hvad mine venner i skolen ville tænke

if they saw me running up and down this hill.

hvis de så mig løbe op og ned af volden.

I was especially concerned of what the girls might think.

Jeg var især bekymret for hvad pigerne ville tænke.

And so I started to argue with these men.

Så jeg startede med at diskutere med disse mænd.

It was a little reckless, but you know, I was 16.

Det var en smule dumdristigt, men du ved, jeg var 16.

I got lucky.

Jeg var heldig.

A Ghana Airways pilot falls into the same predicament.

En pilot fra Ghana Airways ender i samme knibe.

Because of his uniform they speak to him differently,

Men på grund af hans uniform taler de anderledes til ham,

and they explain to him that they're just following orders.

og de forklarer ham at de kun følger ordrer.

So he takes their radio, talks to their boss,

Så han tager deres radio, snakker med deres leder,

and gets us all released.

og går os alle sat fri.

What lessons would you take from an experience like this?

Hvad ville du lære fra en oplevelse som denne?

Several, for me.

En del for mit vedkomne.

Leadership matters. Those men are following

Ledelse er vigtigt. Disse mænd følger

the orders of a superior officer.

ordrene fra en overordnet officer.

I learned something about courage.

Jeg lærte noget om mod.

It was important not to look at those guns.

Det var vigtigt ikke at kigge på våbene.

And I also learned that it can be helpful to think about girls.

Og jeg lærte også, at det kan være en hjælp at tænke på piger.

(Laughter)

(Latter)

So a few years after this event, I leave Ghana on a scholarship

Et par år efter denne episode forlader jeg Ghana med et stipendium

to go to Swarthmore College for my education.

til en uddannelse på Swarthmore College.

It was a breath of fresh air.

Det var som frisk luft.

You know, the faculty there didn't want us to memorize information

Du ved, fakultet der ville ikke bare have us til at huske information

and repeat back to them as I was used to back in Ghana.

og gentage dem tilbage til dem, som jeg var vant til i Ghana.

They wanted us to think critically.

De ville have os til at tænke kritisk.

They wanted us to be analytical.

De ville have os til at vare analytiske.

They wanted us to be concerned about social issues.

De ville have os til at bekymre os om sociale emner.

In my economics classes I got high marks

Jeg fik høje karakterer i økonomi

for my understanding of basic economics.

for min forståelse af den grundlæggende økonomi.

But I learned something more profound than that,

Men jeg lærte noget mere basalt end det,

which is that the leaders -- the managers of Ghana's economy --

hvilket er, at lederene - lederene af Ghana's økonomi -

were making breathtakingly bad decisions

tog forrygende dårlige beslutninger

that had brought our economy to the brink of collapse.

som bragte vores økonomi tæt på sammenbruddets rand.

And so here was this lesson again -- leadership matters.

Og her var lektionen igen - ledelse er vigtigt.

It matters a great deal.

Det betyder ganske meget.

But I didn't really fully understand what had happened to me at Swarthmore.

Men jeg forstod ikke helt hvad der var sket med mig på Swarthmore.

I had an inkling,

Jeg havde en anelse.

but I didn't fully realize it until I went out into the workplace

Men jeg forstod det ikke helt før jeg startede på arbejdsmarkedet,

and I went to work at Microsoft Corporation.

og fik et job i Microsoft Corporation.

And I was part of this team -- this thinking, learning team

Jeg var en del af et team - dettee tænkende, lærende team

whose job it was to design and implement new software

hvis funktion var at designe og idriftsætte ny software

that created value in the world.

som bragte værdi til verden.

And it was brilliant to be part of this team.

Og det var fantastisk at være en del af dette team.

It was brilliant.

Det var fantastisk.

And I realized just what had happened to me at Swarthmore,

og jeg forstod hvad der var sket med mig på Swarthmore,

this transformation --

Denne forvandelse -

the ability to confront problems, complex problems,

evnen til at stå ansigt til ansigt med problemer, indviklede problemer,

and to design solutions to those problems.

og til at finde løsninger til problemerne.

The ability to create is the most empowering thing

Evnen til at skabe er den mægtigeste evne

that can happen to an individual.

et menneske kan have.

And I was part of that.

Og jeg var en del af det.

Now, while I was at Microsoft, the annual revenues of that company

Mens jeg var hos Microsoft, blev firmaet's årlig indtægter

grew larger than the GDP of the Republic of Ghana.

større end GDP i Republikken Ghana.

And by the way, it's continued to.

Og sådan er det forresten stadigvæk.

The gap has widened since I left.

Kløften er vokset siden jeg forlod dem.

Now, I've already spoken about one of the reasons why this has occurred.

Jeg har allerede talt om en af grundende til at det skete.

I mean, it's the people there who are so hardworking,

Jeg mener, der folk som arbejder hårdt,

persistent, creative, empowered.

stædigt, kreativt, mægtig.

But there were also some external factors:

Men der var også nogle ydre faktorer:

free markets, the rule of law, infrastructure.

frie markeder, retssamfundet, infrastrukturen.

These things were provided by institutions

Alt dette leveres af institutioner

run by the people that I call leaders.

styret af personer jeg kalder ledere.

And those leaders did not emerge spontaneously.

Og disse ledere dukkede ikke bare spontant op

Somebody trained them to do the work that they do.

En eller anden uddannede dem til at udføre deres arbejde.

Now, while I was at Microsoft, this funny thing happened.

Da jeg var hos Microsoft, skete der noget sjovt.

I became a parent.

Jeg blev forælder.

And for the first time, Africa mattered more to me than ever before.

Og for første gang, betød Afrika mere for mig end nogensinde før.

Because I realized that the state of the African continent

For jeg forstod at situationen på det Afrikanske kontinent

would matter to my children and their children.

ville betyde noget for mine børn og deres børn.

That the state of the world -- the state of the world

Tilstanden i verden - tilstanden i verden

depends on what's happening to Africa,

er afhaengig af hvad der sker i Afrika,

as far as my kids would be concerned.

for mine børns vedkommende.

And at this time, when I was going through

Og på den tid, da jeg gik igennem

what I call my "pre-mid-life crisis,"

det jeg kalder "fø-midtvejskrisen."

Africa was a mess.

var Afrika et rod.

Somalia had disintegrated into anarchy.

Somalia var opløst i anarki.

Rwanda was in the throes of this genocidal war.

Rwanda var i midt i et folkedrab.

And it seemed to me that that was the wrong direction,

Og for mig virkede det som en forkert retning,

and I needed to be back helping.

og jeg var nødt til at tage tilbage for at hjælpe.

I couldn't just stay in Seattle and raise my kids

Jeg kunne ikke bare blive i Seattle og opforstre mine børn

in an upper-middle class neighborhood and feel good about it.

i et højere middelklasse nabolag og føle mig godt tilpas.

This was not the world that I'd want my children to grow up in.

Dette var ikke den verden jeg ville have mine børn skulle vokse op i.

So I decided to get engaged, and the first thing that I did

Så jeg besluttede mig for at blive indvolveret, og det første jeg gjorde

was to come back to Ghana and talk with a lot of people

var at tage tilbage til Ghana og tale med en masse mennesker

and really try to understand what the real issues were.

for at forsøge at forstå hvad de egentlige problemer var.

And three things kept coming up for every problem:

Og tre ting dukkede op for hvert problem:

corruption, weak institutions

korruption, svage institutioner

and the people who run them -- the leaders.

og dem der styrede dem - lederne.

Now, I was a little scared

Jeg var en smule bange

because when you see those three problems,

for når du ser på de tre problemer,

they seem really hard to deal with.

ser de sværde ud at håndtere.

And they might say, "Look, don't even try."

og de siger måske, se her, prøv ikke på det.

But, for me, I asked the question,

Men jeg stillede spørgsmålet,

"Well, where are these leaders coming from?

"Hvor kommer alle disse ledere fra?"

What is it about Ghana that produces leaders

Hvad er det i Ghana som skaber ledere

that are unethical or unable to solve problems?"

som er uetiske og ikke er i stand til at løse problemerne?

So I went to look at what was happening in our educational system.

Så jeg kiggede på det, der sker i vores uddannelsessystem.

And it was the same -- learning by rote --

Og det var det samme - indoktrinering -

from primary school through graduate school.

fra folkeskolen til universitetet.

Very little emphasis on ethics,

meget lille vægt på moral.

and the typical graduate

Og den gennemsnitlige, du ved, den typiske student

from a university in Ghana has a stronger sense

fra et universitet i Ghana ved mere

of entitlement than a sense of responsibility.

om offentlig støtte end om ansvar.

This is wrong.

Dette er forkert.

So I decided to engage this particular problem.

Så jeg besluttede mig for at angribe lige dette problem.

Because it seems to me that every society, every society,

For mig, ser det ud til at ethvert samfund,

must be very intentional about how it trains its leaders.

må være målrettede om hvordan de uddanner deres ledere.

And Ghana was not paying enough attention.

Og Ghana var ikke opmærksom nok.

And this is true across sub-Saharan Africa, actually.

Og dette er sandt for resten af sub-Sahara Afrka.

So this is what I'm doing now.

Så dette er hvad jeg gør nu.

I'm trying to bring the experience that I had at Swarthmore to Africa.

Jeg forsøger at bringe de erfaringer jeg fik på Swarthmore til Afrika.

I wish there was a liberal arts college in every African country.

Jeg ønsker at der er et universitet i hvert Afrikansk land.

I think it would make a huge difference.

Jeg tror at det vill gøre en stor forskel.

And what Ashesi University is trying to do

Og det Ashesi Universitet forsøger at gøre

is to train a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders.

er at uddanne en ny generation af etiske, iværksaettere.

We're trying to train leaders of exceptional integrity,

Vi forsøger at uddanne ledere med en enestående integritet,

who have the ability to confront the complex problems,

som har evnen til at stå ansigt til ansigt med inviklede problemer,

ask the right questions, and come up with workable solutions.

stille de rigtige spørgsmål og kom med en løsning.

I'll admit that there are times when it seems like "Mission: Impossible,"

Jeg indrømmer at der er tider hvor det ligner "Mission Impossible."

but we must believe that these kids are smart.

Men vi er nødt til at tro på at de unge er kvikke.

That if we involve them in their education,

Hvis we involverer them i deres uddannelse,

if we have them discuss the real issues that they confront --

hvis vi får dem til at diskutere de problemer de oplever -

that our whole society confronts --

som hele vores samfund oplever -

and if we give them skills that enable them to engage the real world,

og hvis vi giver them de færdigheder, der gør det muligt for dem at tage fat på den virkelige verden,

that magic will happen.

vil noget magisk ske.

Now, a month into this project, we'd just started classes.

Efter en måned med projektet, har vi lige startet kurser.

And a month into it, I come to the office,

Og en måned senere, kommer jeg på kontoret,

and I have this email from one of our students.

hvor jeg modtager en email fra en af vores elever.

And it said, very simply, "I am thinking now."

Den sagde, simpelthen, 'nu tænker jeg.'

And he signs off, "Thank you."

og han afslutter med, 'Tak.'

It's such a simple statement.

Det er sådan et simpelt udsagn.

But I was moved almost to tears

Men jeg græd næsten

because I understood what was happening to this young man.

for jeg forstod hvad der skete med denne unge mand.

And it is an awesome thing to be a part

Og det var fantastisk at medvirke

of empowering someone in this way.

til at give styrke til en på den måde.

I am thinking now.

Nu tænker jeg.

This year we challenged our students

I år udfordrede vi vores elever,

to craft an honor code themselves.

til selv at skabe en ærekode

There's a very vibrant debate going on on campus now

Der er en aktiv debat på skolen nu,

over whether they should have an honor code,

om de skal have en ærekode,

and if so, what it should look like.

og i så fald hvad den skal indeholde.

One of the students asked a question that just warmed my heart.

En af eleverne stillede et spørgsmål som rørte mit hjerte.

Can we create a perfect society?

Kan vi skabe et perfekt samfund?

Her understanding that a student-crafted honor code

Hendes forståelse om at en ærekode lavet af de studerende

constitutes a reach towards perfection is incredible.

er at søge efter det perfekte, er utrolig.

Now, we cannot achieve perfection,

Vi kan ikke opnå prefekthed.

but if we reach for it, then we can achieve excellence.

Men hvis vi søger efter det, kan vi opnå fortrinlighed

I don't know ultimately what they will do.

Jeg ved ikke hvad de ender med.

I don't know whether they will decide to have this honor code.

Jeg ved ikke om de beslutter sig for at have en ærekode.

But the conversation they're having now --

Men samtalen de har lige nu -

about what their good society should look like,

om hvordan deres gode samfund skal se ud,

what their excellent society should look like,

hvordan deres fortrinlige samfund skal se ud -

is a really good thing.

er en meget god ting.

Am I out of time? OK.

Er tiden ved at være gået? OK.

Now, I just wanted to leave that slide up

Jeg vil gerne lade dette billede blive

because it's important that we think about it.

fordi det er vigtigt at vi tænker på det.

I'm very excited about the fact

Jeg er meget glad for

that every student at Ashesi University does community service before they graduate.

at alle elever ved Ashesi Universitet laver frivilligt arbejde før de afslutter.

That for many of them, it has been a life-altering experience.

Det har været en livsændrende for mange af dem.

These young future leaders are beginning to understand

Disse unge fremtidens ledere er begyndt t forstå

the real business of leadership,

hvad ægte lederskab handler om.

the real privilege of leadership,

Privilegiet ved lederskab

which is after all to serve humanity.

er, trods alt, at tjene menneskeheden.

I am even more thrilled by the fact that least year

Jeg er især begejstret over kendsgerningen ved at sidste år

our student body elected a woman

valgte eleverne en kvinde

to be the head of Student Government.

som formand for studenterrådet.

It's the first time in the history of Ghana

Det er første gang i Ghana's historie

that a woman has been elected head of Student Government

at en kvinde er blevet valgt som formand for studenterrådet

at any university.

ved et hvilket som helst universitet.

It says a lot about her.

Det siger en del om hende.

It says a lot about the culture that's forming on campus.

Det siger en del om kulturen som udvikler sig på universitetet.

It says a lot about her peers who elected her.

Det siger en del om dem som valgte hende.

She won with 75 percent of the vote.

Hun vandt med 75 procent af stemmerne.

And it gives me a lot of hope.

Og det giver mig en masse håb.

It turns out that corporate West Africa

Det viser sig at virksomheder i Vestafrika

also appreciates what's happening with our students.

også værdsætter det, der sker med vores elever.

We've graduated two classes of students to date.

Vi har indtil nu afsluttet to årgange.

And every single one of them has been placed.

Og hver og en af dem har fået stillinger.

And we're getting great reports back

Og vi har fået en masse gode tilbagemeldinger

from corporate Ghana, corporate West Africa,

fra virksomheder i Ghana, virksomheder i Vestafrika.

and the things that they're most impressed about is work ethic.

Og det de er mest imponerede over er arbejdsmoralen.

You know, that passion for what they're doing.

Du ved, passionen for det de laver.

The persistence, their ability to deal with ambiguity,

Ihærdigheden, deres evne til at håndtere flertydighed,

their ability to tackle problems that they haven't seen before.

deres evene til at håndtere problemer, som de ikke har set foer.

This is good because

Dette er godt, for du ved,

over the past five years, there have been times

over de sidste fem år, har der været tider

when I've felt this is "Mission: Impossible."

hvor jeg følte at det var en '"Mission Impossible."

And it's just wonderful to see these glimmers

Og det er fantastisk at se disse glimt

of the promise of what can happen if we train our kids right.

af hvad der kan ske når vi uddanner vores unge rigtigt.

I think that the current and future leaders of Africa

Jeg tror at de nuværende og de fremtidige ledere i Afrika

have an incredible opportunity

har en fantastisk mulighed

to drive a major renaissance on the continent.

for a skabe en genopblomstring på dette kontinent.

It's an incredible opportunity.

Det er en fantastisk mulighed.

There aren't very many more opportunities like this in the world.

Der er ikke så mange muligheder i verden som denne.

I believe that Africa has reached an inflection point

I tror på at Afrika har nået et kritisk punkt

with a march of democracy and free markets across the continent.

med hensyn til udvilingen af demokrati og frie markeder på kontinentet.

We have reached a moment from which can emerge

Vi har nået et tidspunkt hvor et godt samfund

a great society within one generation.

kan vokse med en enkelt generation.

It will depend on inspired leadership.

Det er afhængigt af ent inspireret ledelse.

And it is my contention that the manner in which we train our leaders

Og det er min påstand at måden vi uddanner vores ledere

will make all the difference.

vil gøre foreskellen.

Thank you, and God bless.

Tak, og Gud være lovet.

(Applause)

(Bifald)