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.
Kao i mnogi od vas ovdje, pokušavam doprinijeti afričkoj renesansi. Pitanje transformacije Afrike je zapravo pitanje rukovodstva. Afrika može biti transformirana jedino uz prosvijetljene vođe. I tvrdim da je način na koji obrazujemo naše vođe temeljan za napredak na ovom kontinentu. Želim vam ispričati nekoliko priča koje objašnjavaju moje stajalište. Jučer smo svi čuli za važnost priča. Moja američka prijateljica je volontirala kao medicinska sestra u Gani. i u razdoblju od tri mjeseca došla do zaključka u vezi stanja rukovodstva u Africi za koji je meni trebalo preko desetljeća. Dva puta je prisustvovala operacijama tijekom kojih je bolnica ostala bez struje. Pomoćni generatori nisu radili. Nije bilo svjetiljke, lampe, čak ni svijeće -- potpuni mrak. Pacijenti otvoreni, dvaput. Prvi put je bio carski rez. Srećom, beba je izašla -- majka i dijete su preživjeli.
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.
Drugi put je bila operacija koja je uključivala lokalnu anesteziju. Anestezija se istroši. Pacijent osjeća bol. Plače. Vrišti. Moli se. Potpuni mrak. Ni svijeće, ni svjetiljke. Bolnica si je mogla priuštiti svjetiljke. Mogli su si priuštiti da nabave ove stvari, no nisu. I to se dogodilo dvaput. Sljedeći put, gledala je u užasu sestre kako gledaju dok pacijentica umire, jer su joj odbili dati kisik, iako su ga imali. I dakle, tri mjeseca poslije, upravo prije povratka u SAD, sestre u Accri su pokrenule štrajk. Preporuka koju je dobila je da iskoristi štrajk kao priliku i otpusti sve, počne iznova. Počne iznova.
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.
Kakve to veze ima s rukovodstvom? Vidite, ljudi u ministarstvu zdravlja, bolnički administratori, liječnici, sestre, su među samo pet posto svojih vršnjaka koji dobiju obrazovanje nakon srednje škole. Oni su elita. Oni su naši vođe. Njihove odluke, njihova djela su važna. Kada ne uspiju, nacija doslovno pati. Dakle, kada pričam o rukovodstvu, ne govorim samo o političkim vođama. O tome smo puno čuli. Govorim o eliti. Onima koji su trenirani, čiji je posao biti čuvari društva. Odvjetnici, suci, policajci, liječnici, inženjeri, javni službenici -- oni su vođe. I moramo ih dobro trenirati.
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.
Moje prvo pamtljivo iskustvo s rukovodstvom u Gani se dogodilo kada sam imao 16. Dogodio se vojni udar, vojnici su preuzeli društvo. Bilo ih je posvuda. Jednog dana idem u zračnu luku susresti oca, i kako hodam travnatom padinom od parkirališta do terminala, zaustavljaju me dva vojnika naoružana AK-47 jurišnim puškama. Rekli su mi da se pridružim grupi ljudi koji su trčali gore - dolje po toj padini. Zašto? Jer su put koji sam odabrao smatrali prekoračenjem dopuštenih granica. Bez ikakvog znaka za to.
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.
Imao sam 16 i bio sam jako zabrinut što će mi vršnjaci reći u školi ako me vide da trčim gore - dolje po tom brdu. Posebno sam bio zabrinut što će djevojke misliti o tome. Pa sam se počeo prepirati s ovim ljudima. Bilo je nepromišljeno, no, imao sam 16. Posrećilo mi se. Pilot Ghana Airwaysa upadne u istu nepriliku. Zbog njegove uniforme, obraćali su mu se drugačije i pojasnili da samo slijede naredbe. Uzme njihov radio, razgovara s njihovim šefom, i svima nam omogući odlazak. Kakve lekcije biste izvukli iz ovakvog iskustva? Ja sam ih izvukao nekoliko. Rukovodstvo je važno. Ti ljudi su pratili naredbe nadređenog. Naučio sam nešto o hrabrosti. Bilo je važno ne gledati u puške. Također sam naučio da pomaže ako razmišljate o djevojkama.
(Laughter)
(Smijeh)
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.
Nekoliko godina nakon ovog događaja, napustio sam Ganu sa stipendijom za moje obrazovanje na Swarthmore College. Bio je to dašak svježeg zraka. Profesori nas nisu tražili da pamtimo informacije i ponavljamo ih njima kao kad sam bio u Gani. Htjeli su da razmišljamo kritički. Htjeli su da budemo analitični. Htjeli su da nas zabrinjavaju socijalna pitanja. Iz ekonomije sam imao visoke ocjene za moje razumijevanje osnova ekonomije. No naučio sam nešto važnije od toga, a to je da su vođe, upravitelji ganskom ekonomijom, donosili neizmjerno loše odluke koje su dovele našu ekonomiju na rub kolapsa. I tu je ista pouka - rukovodstvo je važno. Jako važno.
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.
Nisam u potpunosti razumio što mi se dogodilo u Swarthmoreu. Imao sam nagovještaj, no nisam u potpunosti shvatio dok nisam počeo raditi, a radio sam u Microsoftu. Bio sam dio tima -- tima koji uči i razmišlja, čiji je posao bio dizajnirati i implementirati novi softver koji je stvarao vrijednost u svijetu. Bilo je briljantno biti dio ovog tima. Briljantno. I shvatio sam što mi se točno dogodilo u Swarthmoreu, ova transformacija -- sposobnost suočavanja s problemima, kompleksnim problemima. i dizajniranje rješenja za te probleme. Sposobnost stvaranja je najmoćnija stvar koja se može dogoditi pojedincu, a ja sam bio dio toga.
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.
Dok sam bio u Microsoftu, godišnji prihodi tog poduzeća su bili veći od BDP-a Republike Gane. I usput, nastavili su rasti. Razmak se povećao otkad sam otišao. Već sam pričao o jednom od razloga zašto se ovo dogodilo. Ljudi su tamo jako marljivi, uporni, kreativni, osposobljeni. No, bilo je i vanjskih faktora: slobodno tržište, pravilo zakona, infrastruktura. Ove stvari su omogućene od institucija koje vode ljudi koje zovem vođama. I ti vođe se nisu pojavili spontano. Netko ih je trenirao da rade posao koji rade. Dok sam bio u Microsoftu, smiješna stvar se dogodila. Postao sam roditelj. I po prvi put, Afrika mi je bila važnija nego ikad. Jer sam shvatio da će stanje afričkog kontinenta biti važno mojoj djeci i njihovoj djeci. Da stanje svijeta -- stanje svijeta ovisi o onome što se događa u Africi, ako se pita moju djecu.
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.
U to vrijeme, kada sam prolazio kroz ono što ja zovem "pred-krizom srednjih godina", Afrika je bila u neredu. Somalija se raspala u anarhiju, Rwanda je bila u boli genocidnog rata. Činilo mi se kako je to pogrešan put, i da sam tamo potreban radi pomoći. Nisam mogao ostati u Seattleu i odgajati svoju djecu u susjedstvu višeg srednjeg sloja i osjećati se dobro zbog toga. To nije svijet u kakvom želim da mi djeca odrastaju. Odlučio sam se angažirati, a prva stvar koju sam napravio nakon povratka u Ganu je bio razgovor s mnogo ljudi, i stvarno sam pokušao shvatiti što su bili pravi problemi. Tri stvari su dolazile sa svakim problemom korupcija, slabe institucije, i ljudi koji ih vode - vođe.
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.
Bilo me malo strah jer kada vidite ta tri problema, čine se jako teškima za rješavanje. Ljudi bi mogli reći: "Nemoj ni pokušati." No, ja sam upitao, "Odakle dolaze ovi vođe? Što je to u vezi s Ganom da proizvodi vođe koji nisu etični i nisu sposobni rješavati probleme?" Pogledao sam što se događa s našim obrazovnim sustavom. I ostalo je isto -- učenje napamet -- od osnovne do kraja fakulteta. Vrlo malo naglaska na etici, i tipični diplomac sa sveučilišta u Gani ima jači osjećaj prava nego odgovornosti. To je pogrešno.
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.
Odlučio sam pristupiti tom određenom problemu jer mi se činilo da svako društvo, svako društvo, mora imati namjeru u vezi toga kako trenira svoje vođe. Gana nije obraćala dovoljno pozornosti. Ovo je, zapravo, istina posvuda u sub-Saharskoj Africi. To je ono što trenutačno radim. Pokušavam donijeti iskustvo koje sam imao iz Swarthmoreu u Afriku. Volio bih da postoji fakultet društvenih znanosti u svakoj afričkoj državi. Mislim da bi to činilo veliku razliku. Ono što Sveučilište Ashesi pokušava učiniti je trenirati novu generaciju etičkih, poduzetnih vođa. Pokušavamo trenirati vođe iznimnog integriteta, koji imaju sposobnost suočavanja s kompleksnim problemima, koji pitaju prava pitanja i pronalaze realna rješenja.
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.
Priznat ću da postoje trenuci kada se to čini kao nemoguća misija, ali moramo vjerovati da su ova djeca pametna. Da, ako se uključimo u njihovo obrazovanje, ako postignemo da raspravljaju o pravim problemima s kojima se suočavaju, s kojima se suočava cijelo društvo, i ako im damo sposobnosti koje će im omogućiti suočavanje sa stvarnim svijetom, dogodit će se magija. Projekt traje mjesec dana, tek smo počeli s nastavom. Mjesec dana je prošlo, dolazim u svoj ured, i vidim e-mail od jednog studenta. Pisalo je, vrlo jednostavno, "Ja sada mislim." i potpis, "Hvala Vam." Vrlo jednostavna tvrdnja. No mene je ganula gotovo do suza jer sam razumio što se događa tom mladom čovjeku. Zakon je biti dio osposobljavanja nekoga na ovaj način. "Ja sada mislim."
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.
Ove godine smo pozvali studente da samostalno izrade kod časti. Trenutačno je vrlo živa rasprava na kampusu trebaju li imati kod časti ili ne , i ako da, kako bi izgledao. Jedna od studentica je postavila pitanje koje mi je zagrijalo srce. "Možemo li stvoriti savršeno društvo?" Čudesno je njeno razumijevanje da bi kod časti kojeg bi studenti napravili temeljni korak prema savršenstvu. Ne možemo dostići savršenstvo, no ako možemo krenuti prema njemu, možemo dostići izvrsnost. Ne znam što će iz toga na kraju biti. Ne znam hoće li odlučiti imati kod časti. No, razgovor koji trenutno imaju je o tome kako bi njihovo dobro društvo izgledalo, kako bi njihovo izvrsno društvo izgledalo, i to je stvarno dobra stvar.
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.
Nemam više vremena? OK. Htio sam samo ostaviti ovaj slajd gore jer je važno da razmislimo o njemu. Vrlo sam uzbuđen činjenicom da svaki student na Sveučilištu Ashesi obavlja društveni rad prije diplome. To je, za mnogo njih, bilo iskustvo koje mijenja život. Ovi mladi, budući vođe počinju shvaćati pravi posao rukovodstva, pravu privilegiju rukovodstva, koja je, na kraju krajeva, da služi čovječanstvu. Još sam i više uzbuđen činjenicom da je prošle godine naš studentski zbor izabrao ženu kao predsjednicu Studentske vlade. To je prvi put u povijesti Gane da je žena izabrana kao predsjednica Studentske vlade na bilo kojem sveučilištu. To puno govori o njoj. Govori puno i o kulturi koja se formira na kampusu. Govori puno o njenim vršnjacima koji su je odabrali. Pobijedila je sa 75% glasova.
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."
To mi daje puno nade. Čini se da korporativna zapadna Afrika također prepoznaje što se događa s našim studentima. Do danas su diplomirale dvije generacije studenata. I svaki od njih je našao posao. Dobivamo sjajne izvještaje od korporativne Gane, korporativne Zapadne Afrike, i najviše su impresionirani radnom etikom. Znate, strast za ono što rade. Ustrajnost, sposobnost da se nose s dvosmislenošću, sposobnost da se uhvate u koštac s problemom koji nikada nisu vidjeli. To je dobro, jer kroz proteklih 5 godina, postojala su vremena kada sam pomislio da je ovo nemoguća misija.
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.
I predivno je vidjeti ovaj sjaj obećanja onoga što se može dogoditi ako pravilno treniramo djecu. Mislim da trenutačni i budući afrički vođe imaju nevjerojatnu priliku predvoditi veliku renesansu na kontinentu. Nevjerojatna prilika. Nema više puno ovakvih prilika u svijetu. Vjerujem da je Afrika došla do točke promjene sa dolaskom demokracije i slobodne trgovine na cijelom kontinentu. Došli smo do trenutka iz kojega možemo izrasti u veliko društvo u jednoj generaciji. Ovisiti će o nadahnutom rukovodstvu. Moja tvrdnja je da način na koji treniramo naše vođe će učiniti svu razliku. Hvala i Bog vas blagoslovio.
(Applause)
(Pljesak)