Somom mange af jer her, forsøger jeg at medvirke til en genopblomstring i Afrika. Spørgsmålet om forvandelse i Afrika er egentlig et spørgsmål om ledelse. Afrika kan kun forvandles ved hjælp af oplyste ledere. og det er min påstand at måden vi uddanner vores ledere er fundamentalt for fremskridt på dette kontinent. Jeg vil gerne fortælle jer nogle historier som forklarer mit synspunkt. Vi hørte om betydningsfulde historier i går. I år meldte en amerikansk ven sig frivilligt som sygeplejeske i Ghana. og efter tree måneder kom hun til en konklusion om ledelsens tilstand i Afrika som havde taget mig over et årti at opnå. Hun var involveret i kirugi to gange hvor de mistede elektricitet på hospitalet. Nødgeneratorerne startede ikke - der var ikke nogle lommelygter, lygter eller stearinlys. Bulrende mørkt. Patienten var skåret op - to gange. Første gang var det et kejsersnit Gudskelov var babyen født - mor og baby overlevede.
Like many of you here, I am trying to contribute towards a renaissance in Africa. The question of transformation in Africa really is a question of leadership. Africa can only be transformed by enlightened leaders. And it is my contention that the manner in which we educate our leaders is fundamental to progress on this continent. I want to tell you some stories that explain my view. We all heard about the importance of stories yesterday. An American friend of mine this year volunteered as a nurse in Ghana, and in a period of three months she came to a conclusion about the state of leadership in Africa that had taken me over a decade to reach. Twice she was involved in surgeries where they lost power at the hospital. The emergency generators did not start. There was not a flashlight, not a lantern, not a candle -- pitch black. The patient's cut open, twice. The first time it was a C-section. Thankfully, baby was out -- mother and child survived.
Den anden gang var det en operation med loakalbedøvelse. Bedøvelsen holder op med at virke. Patienten føler smerte. Han græder. Han skriger. Han beder. Bulrende mørkt. Ingen stearinlys, ingen lommelygte. og det hospital havde råd til lommelygter. De kunne have råd til at købe disse ting men de gjorde det ikke. Og det skete to gange. En anden gang, så hun sygeplejersker kigge på en døende patient fordi de nægtede at give hende den ilt de havde. Tre måneder senere, lige før hun kom tilbage til Amerika, strejkede sygeplejerskene i Accra. Og hendes foreslag er at bruge muligheden for at fyre dem allesammen, starte forfra. Starte forfra
The second time was a procedure that involved local anesthesia. Anesthetic wears off. The patient feels pain. He's crying. He's screaming. He's praying. Pitch black. Not a candle, not a flashlight. And that hospital could have afforded flashlights. They could have afforded to purchase these things, but they didn't. And it happened twice. Another time, she watched in horror as nurses watched a patient die because they refused to give her oxygen that they had. And so three months later, just before she returned to the United States, nurses in Accra go on strike. And her recommendation is take this opportunity to fire everyone, start all over again. Start all over again.
Hvad har dette at gørre med ledelse? Ser du, fejlene ved sundhedsministeriet hospitalsadministrationen, lægerne, sygeplejeskerne - de blandt de kun 5 procent af dere ligemænd som får en uddannelse efter folkeskolen. De er eliten. De er vores ledere. Deres beslutninger, deres handlinger betyder noget. Og når de fejler, lider en nation bogstaveligt talt. Så når jeg taler om ledelse. om foereskab, talerjeg ikke kun om politiske ledere. Vi har hørt meget om det. Jeg taler om eliten. Dem, der er uddannet. Hvis job er at være samfunds beskyttere. Advokater, dommere, politimænd, læger, enginører, tjenestemænd - de er lederne. og vi er nødt til at uddanne dem rigtigt.
Now what does this have to do with leadership? You see, the folks at the ministry of health, the hospital administrators, the doctors, the nurses -- they are among just five percent of their peers who get an education after secondary school. They are the elite. They are our leaders. Their decisions, their actions matter. And when they fail, a nation literally suffers. So when I speak of leadership, I'm not talking about just political leaders. We've heard a lot about that. I'm talking about the elite. Those who've been trained, whose job it is to be the guardians of their society. The lawyers, the judges, the policemen, the doctors, the engineers, the civil servants -- those are the leaders. And we need to train them right.
Min første mindeværdige erfaring med ledelse i Ghana skete da jeg var 16 år gammel. Vi havde lige haft et militærkup. og soldaterne var overalt i samfundet. De var et gennemtrængende tilstedeværelse. og en dag tager jeg til lufthavnen for at hente min far, og da jeg går op ad en skåning fra parkeringspladsen til terminalen, bliver jeg stoppet af to soldater med AK-47 geværer. Og de bad mig gå om at gå hen til en gruppe mennesker som løb op og ned af en vold. Hvorfor? Fordi den vej jeg havde taget ikke var tilladt. Ingen skilte med det.
Now, my first pointed and memorable experience with leadership in Ghana occurred when I was 16 years old. We had just had a military coup, and soldiers were pervasive in our society. They were a pervasive presence. And one day I go to the airport to meet my father, and as I walk up this grassy slope from the car park to the terminal building, I'm stopped by two soldiers wielding AK-47 assault weapons. And they asked me to join a crowd of people that were running up and down this embankment. Why? Because the path I had taken was considered out of bounds. No sign to this effect.
Jeg var 16. Jeg var bekymret om hvad mine venner i skolen ville tænke hvis de så mig løbe op og ned af volden. Jeg var især bekymret for hvad pigerne ville tænke. Så jeg startede med at diskutere med disse mænd. Det var en smule dumdristigt, men du ved, jeg var 16. Jeg var heldig. En pilot fra Ghana Airways ender i samme knibe. Men på grund af hans uniform taler de anderledes til ham, og de forklarer ham at de kun følger ordrer. Så han tager deres radio, snakker med deres leder, og går os alle sat fri. Hvad ville du lære fra en oplevelse som denne? En del for mit vedkomne. Ledelse er vigtigt. Disse mænd følger ordrene fra en overordnet officer. Jeg lærte noget om mod. Det var vigtigt ikke at kigge på våbene. Og jeg lærte også, at det kan være en hjælp at tænke på piger.
Now, I was 16. I was very worried about what my peers at school might think if they saw me running up and down this hill. I was especially concerned of what the girls might think. And so I started to argue with these men. It was a little reckless, but you know, I was 16. I got lucky. A Ghana Airways pilot falls into the same predicament. Because of his uniform they speak to him differently, and they explain to him that they're just following orders. So he takes their radio, talks to their boss, and gets us all released. What lessons would you take from an experience like this? Several, for me. Leadership matters. Those men are following the orders of a superior officer. I learned something about courage. It was important not to look at those guns. And I also learned that it can be helpful to think about girls.
(Latter)
(Laughter)
Et par år efter denne episode forlader jeg Ghana med et stipendium til en uddannelse på Swarthmore College. Det var som frisk luft. Du ved, fakultet der ville ikke bare have us til at huske information og gentage dem tilbage til dem, som jeg var vant til i Ghana. De ville have os til at tænke kritisk. De ville have os til at vare analytiske. De ville have os til at bekymre os om sociale emner. Jeg fik høje karakterer i økonomi for min forståelse af den grundlæggende økonomi. Men jeg lærte noget mere basalt end det, hvilket er, at lederene - lederene af Ghana's økonomi - tog forrygende dårlige beslutninger som bragte vores økonomi tæt på sammenbruddets rand. Og her var lektionen igen - ledelse er vigtigt. Det betyder ganske meget.
So a few years after this event, I leave Ghana on a scholarship to go to Swarthmore College for my education. It was a breath of fresh air. You know, the faculty there didn't want us to memorize information and repeat back to them as I was used to back in Ghana. They wanted us to think critically. They wanted us to be analytical. They wanted us to be concerned about social issues. In my economics classes I got high marks for my understanding of basic economics. But I learned something more profound than that, which is that the leaders -- the managers of Ghana's economy -- were making breathtakingly bad decisions that had brought our economy to the brink of collapse. And so here was this lesson again -- leadership matters. It matters a great deal.
Men jeg forstod ikke helt hvad der var sket med mig på Swarthmore. Jeg havde en anelse. Men jeg forstod det ikke helt før jeg startede på arbejdsmarkedet, og fik et job i Microsoft Corporation. Jeg var en del af et team - dettee tænkende, lærende team hvis funktion var at designe og idriftsætte ny software som bragte værdi til verden. Og det var fantastisk at være en del af dette team. Det var fantastisk. og jeg forstod hvad der var sket med mig på Swarthmore, Denne forvandelse - evnen til at stå ansigt til ansigt med problemer, indviklede problemer, og til at finde løsninger til problemerne. Evnen til at skabe er den mægtigeste evne et menneske kan have. Og jeg var en del af det.
But I didn't really fully understand what had happened to me at Swarthmore. I had an inkling, but I didn't fully realize it until I went out into the workplace and I went to work at Microsoft Corporation. And I was part of this team -- this thinking, learning team whose job it was to design and implement new software that created value in the world. And it was brilliant to be part of this team. It was brilliant. And I realized just what had happened to me at Swarthmore, this transformation -- the ability to confront problems, complex problems, and to design solutions to those problems. The ability to create is the most empowering thing that can happen to an individual. And I was part of that.
Mens jeg var hos Microsoft, blev firmaet's årlig indtægter større end GDP i Republikken Ghana. Og sådan er det forresten stadigvæk. Kløften er vokset siden jeg forlod dem. Jeg har allerede talt om en af grundende til at det skete. Jeg mener, der folk som arbejder hårdt, stædigt, kreativt, mægtig. Men der var også nogle ydre faktorer: frie markeder, retssamfundet, infrastrukturen. Alt dette leveres af institutioner styret af personer jeg kalder ledere. Og disse ledere dukkede ikke bare spontant op En eller anden uddannede dem til at udføre deres arbejde. Da jeg var hos Microsoft, skete der noget sjovt. Jeg blev forælder. Og for første gang, betød Afrika mere for mig end nogensinde før. For jeg forstod at situationen på det Afrikanske kontinent ville betyde noget for mine børn og deres børn. Tilstanden i verden - tilstanden i verden er afhaengig af hvad der sker i Afrika, for mine børns vedkommende.
Now, while I was at Microsoft, the annual revenues of that company grew larger than the GDP of the Republic of Ghana. And by the way, it's continued to. The gap has widened since I left. Now, I've already spoken about one of the reasons why this has occurred. I mean, it's the people there who are so hardworking, persistent, creative, empowered. But there were also some external factors: free markets, the rule of law, infrastructure. These things were provided by institutions run by the people that I call leaders. And those leaders did not emerge spontaneously. Somebody trained them to do the work that they do. Now, while I was at Microsoft, this funny thing happened. I became a parent. And for the first time, Africa mattered more to me than ever before. Because I realized that the state of the African continent would matter to my children and their children. That the state of the world -- the state of the world depends on what's happening to Africa, as far as my kids would be concerned.
Og på den tid, da jeg gik igennem det jeg kalder "fø-midtvejskrisen." var Afrika et rod. Somalia var opløst i anarki. Rwanda var i midt i et folkedrab. Og for mig virkede det som en forkert retning, og jeg var nødt til at tage tilbage for at hjælpe. Jeg kunne ikke bare blive i Seattle og opforstre mine børn i et højere middelklasse nabolag og føle mig godt tilpas. Dette var ikke den verden jeg ville have mine børn skulle vokse op i. Så jeg besluttede mig for at blive indvolveret, og det første jeg gjorde var at tage tilbage til Ghana og tale med en masse mennesker for at forsøge at forstå hvad de egentlige problemer var. Og tre ting dukkede op for hvert problem: korruption, svage institutioner og dem der styrede dem - lederne.
And at this time, when I was going through what I call my "pre-mid-life crisis," Africa was a mess. Somalia had disintegrated into anarchy. Rwanda was in the throes of this genocidal war. And it seemed to me that that was the wrong direction, and I needed to be back helping. I couldn't just stay in Seattle and raise my kids in an upper-middle class neighborhood and feel good about it. This was not the world that I'd want my children to grow up in. So I decided to get engaged, and the first thing that I did was to come back to Ghana and talk with a lot of people and really try to understand what the real issues were. And three things kept coming up for every problem: corruption, weak institutions and the people who run them -- the leaders.
Jeg var en smule bange for når du ser på de tre problemer, ser de sværde ud at håndtere. og de siger måske, se her, prøv ikke på det. Men jeg stillede spørgsmålet, "Hvor kommer alle disse ledere fra?" Hvad er det i Ghana som skaber ledere som er uetiske og ikke er i stand til at løse problemerne? Så jeg kiggede på det, der sker i vores uddannelsessystem. Og det var det samme - indoktrinering - fra folkeskolen til universitetet. meget lille vægt på moral. Og den gennemsnitlige, du ved, den typiske student fra et universitet i Ghana ved mere om offentlig støtte end om ansvar. Dette er forkert.
Now, I was a little scared because when you see those three problems, they seem really hard to deal with. And they might say, "Look, don't even try." But, for me, I asked the question, "Well, where are these leaders coming from? What is it about Ghana that produces leaders that are unethical or unable to solve problems?" So I went to look at what was happening in our educational system. And it was the same -- learning by rote -- from primary school through graduate school. Very little emphasis on ethics, and the typical graduate from a university in Ghana has a stronger sense of entitlement than a sense of responsibility. This is wrong.
Så jeg besluttede mig for at angribe lige dette problem. For mig, ser det ud til at ethvert samfund, må være målrettede om hvordan de uddanner deres ledere. Og Ghana var ikke opmærksom nok. Og dette er sandt for resten af sub-Sahara Afrka. Så dette er hvad jeg gør nu. Jeg forsøger at bringe de erfaringer jeg fik på Swarthmore til Afrika. Jeg ønsker at der er et universitet i hvert Afrikansk land. Jeg tror at det vill gøre en stor forskel. Og det Ashesi Universitet forsøger at gøre er at uddanne en ny generation af etiske, iværksaettere. Vi forsøger at uddanne ledere med en enestående integritet, som har evnen til at stå ansigt til ansigt med inviklede problemer, stille de rigtige spørgsmål og kom med en løsning.
So I decided to engage this particular problem. Because it seems to me that every society, every society, must be very intentional about how it trains its leaders. And Ghana was not paying enough attention. And this is true across sub-Saharan Africa, actually. So this is what I'm doing now. I'm trying to bring the experience that I had at Swarthmore to Africa. I wish there was a liberal arts college in every African country. I think it would make a huge difference. And what Ashesi University is trying to do is to train a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders. We're trying to train leaders of exceptional integrity, who have the ability to confront the complex problems, ask the right questions, and come up with workable solutions.
Jeg indrømmer at der er tider hvor det ligner "Mission Impossible." Men vi er nødt til at tro på at de unge er kvikke. Hvis we involverer them i deres uddannelse, hvis vi får dem til at diskutere de problemer de oplever - som hele vores samfund oplever - og hvis vi giver them de færdigheder, der gør det muligt for dem at tage fat på den virkelige verden, vil noget magisk ske. Efter en måned med projektet, har vi lige startet kurser. Og en måned senere, kommer jeg på kontoret, hvor jeg modtager en email fra en af vores elever. Den sagde, simpelthen, 'nu tænker jeg.' og han afslutter med, 'Tak.' Det er sådan et simpelt udsagn. Men jeg græd næsten for jeg forstod hvad der skete med denne unge mand. Og det var fantastisk at medvirke til at give styrke til en på den måde. Nu tænker jeg.
I'll admit that there are times when it seems like "Mission: Impossible," but we must believe that these kids are smart. That if we involve them in their education, if we have them discuss the real issues that they confront -- that our whole society confronts -- and if we give them skills that enable them to engage the real world, that magic will happen. Now, a month into this project, we'd just started classes. And a month into it, I come to the office, and I have this email from one of our students. And it said, very simply, "I am thinking now." And he signs off, "Thank you." It's such a simple statement. But I was moved almost to tears because I understood what was happening to this young man. And it is an awesome thing to be a part of empowering someone in this way. I am thinking now.
I år udfordrede vi vores elever, til selv at skabe en ærekode Der er en aktiv debat på skolen nu, om de skal have en ærekode, og i så fald hvad den skal indeholde. En af eleverne stillede et spørgsmål som rørte mit hjerte. Kan vi skabe et perfekt samfund? Hendes forståelse om at en ærekode lavet af de studerende er at søge efter det perfekte, er utrolig. Vi kan ikke opnå prefekthed. Men hvis vi søger efter det, kan vi opnå fortrinlighed Jeg ved ikke hvad de ender med. Jeg ved ikke om de beslutter sig for at have en ærekode. Men samtalen de har lige nu - om hvordan deres gode samfund skal se ud, hvordan deres fortrinlige samfund skal se ud - er en meget god ting.
This year we challenged our students to craft an honor code themselves. There's a very vibrant debate going on on campus now over whether they should have an honor code, and if so, what it should look like. One of the students asked a question that just warmed my heart. Can we create a perfect society? Her understanding that a student-crafted honor code constitutes a reach towards perfection is incredible. Now, we cannot achieve perfection, but if we reach for it, then we can achieve excellence. I don't know ultimately what they will do. I don't know whether they will decide to have this honor code. But the conversation they're having now -- about what their good society should look like, what their excellent society should look like, is a really good thing.
Er tiden ved at være gået? OK. Jeg vil gerne lade dette billede blive fordi det er vigtigt at vi tænker på det. Jeg er meget glad for at alle elever ved Ashesi Universitet laver frivilligt arbejde før de afslutter. Det har været en livsændrende for mange af dem. Disse unge fremtidens ledere er begyndt t forstå hvad ægte lederskab handler om. Privilegiet ved lederskab er, trods alt, at tjene menneskeheden. Jeg er især begejstret over kendsgerningen ved at sidste år valgte eleverne en kvinde som formand for studenterrådet. Det er første gang i Ghana's historie at en kvinde er blevet valgt som formand for studenterrådet ved et hvilket som helst universitet. Det siger en del om hende. Det siger en del om kulturen som udvikler sig på universitetet. Det siger en del om dem som valgte hende. Hun vandt med 75 procent af stemmerne.
Am I out of time? OK. Now, I just wanted to leave that slide up because it's important that we think about it. I'm very excited about the fact that every student at Ashesi University does community service before they graduate. That for many of them, it has been a life-altering experience. These young future leaders are beginning to understand the real business of leadership, the real privilege of leadership, which is after all to serve humanity. I am even more thrilled by the fact that least year our student body elected a woman to be the head of Student Government. It's the first time in the history of Ghana that a woman has been elected head of Student Government at any university. It says a lot about her. It says a lot about the culture that's forming on campus. It says a lot about her peers who elected her. She won with 75 percent of the vote.
Og det giver mig en masse håb. Det viser sig at virksomheder i Vestafrika også værdsætter det, der sker med vores elever. Vi har indtil nu afsluttet to årgange. Og hver og en af dem har fået stillinger. Og vi har fået en masse gode tilbagemeldinger fra virksomheder i Ghana, virksomheder i Vestafrika. Og det de er mest imponerede over er arbejdsmoralen. Du ved, passionen for det de laver. Ihærdigheden, deres evne til at håndtere flertydighed, deres evene til at håndtere problemer, som de ikke har set foer. Dette er godt, for du ved, over de sidste fem år, har der været tider hvor jeg følte at det var en '"Mission Impossible."
And it gives me a lot of hope. It turns out that corporate West Africa also appreciates what's happening with our students. We've graduated two classes of students to date. And every single one of them has been placed. And we're getting great reports back from corporate Ghana, corporate West Africa, and the things that they're most impressed about is work ethic. You know, that passion for what they're doing. The persistence, their ability to deal with ambiguity, their ability to tackle problems that they haven't seen before. This is good because over the past five years, there have been times when I've felt this is "Mission: Impossible."
Og det er fantastisk at se disse glimt af hvad der kan ske når vi uddanner vores unge rigtigt. Jeg tror at de nuværende og de fremtidige ledere i Afrika har en fantastisk mulighed for a skabe en genopblomstring på dette kontinent. Det er en fantastisk mulighed. Der er ikke så mange muligheder i verden som denne. I tror på at Afrika har nået et kritisk punkt med hensyn til udvilingen af demokrati og frie markeder på kontinentet. Vi har nået et tidspunkt hvor et godt samfund kan vokse med en enkelt generation. Det er afhængigt af ent inspireret ledelse. Og det er min påstand at måden vi uddanner vores ledere vil gøre foreskellen. Tak, og Gud være lovet.
And it's just wonderful to see these glimmers of the promise of what can happen if we train our kids right. I think that the current and future leaders of Africa have an incredible opportunity to drive a major renaissance on the continent. It's an incredible opportunity. There aren't very many more opportunities like this in the world. I believe that Africa has reached an inflection point with a march of democracy and free markets across the continent. We have reached a moment from which can emerge a great society within one generation. It will depend on inspired leadership. And it is my contention that the manner in which we train our leaders will make all the difference. Thank you, and God bless.
(Bifald)
(Applause)