03 Mar Inspiring New Global Entrepreneurs
I was very excited to attend the Upstart Entrepreneurial Challenge Launch this week. Upstart is a new non-profit organization aimed at building an entrepreneurial culture and fostering strong relationships between students, educators, industry and the community.
Upstart builds skills and experience to help our young people make their mark in the new economy. The Upstart Challenge programs encourage innovation and entrepreneurship in students aged 12 – 18.
Upstart itself is a great innovation! It was founded in 2012 by St. Joseph’s College Foundation to inspire future global entrepreneurs to Think Big and positively change their world.
It’s awesome to see these sorts of programs evolve in our communities. Nurturing creativity and sparking imagination in our young is essential in the 21st Century.
Tony Wagner believes our young people need 7 Survival Skills as they enter the workforce in the 21st Century:
1. Critical thinking and problem solving
2. Collaboration across networks and leading by influence
3. Agility and adaptability
4. Initiative and entrepreneurship
5. Effective oral and written communication
6. Accessing and analyzing information
7. Curiosity and imagination
Yong Zhou wants schools to educate creative and entrepreneurial students who are globally competent. He defines Entrepreneurial Global Competencies as:
1. Seeing global problems as enterprising opportunities
2. Understanding relative strengths and weaknesses of different groups
3. Having a global network of friends
4. Developing a high level of cultural intelligence.
Zhou recommends that schools cultivate Entrepreneurial Global Competencies by:
1. Developing schools as global enterprises
2. Make products and create services for others
3. Build a global network of partners
4. Provide foreign experiences and study/work abroad
5. Teach foreign languages
Wagner and Zhao’s work opens up a “world of ideas and solutions” for schools, solutions that are no-blame and require an “open mind and an understanding of the global nature of our world together with the ability to interact with people cross-culturally.”
What are you doing at your school to help your students become global entrepreneurs and create their own pathways in the 21st Century?
If you would like to learn more about ‘Leadership for the 21st Century’ register to attend a 2-day workshop in Singapore or Melbourne here
