|
Youth representatives staring at our association's logo- Harar, 1993.
|
The founder's brief pro leadership journey
Whenever people hear about the formation of a new organization or initiative, they may wonder why that organization came to picture. They may want to know what makes that organization unique from other similar organizations and whether there is a genuine and legitimate reason behind. They may also desire to hear the story of the founder (s) and the reasons that motivated them to create the organization.
For that matter, people are highly motivated to support new organizations when they find a clear connection between the cause of the organization and the story of its founder (s). Many people are less interested to back organizations and initiatives that lack strong reasons for their coming to existence. Because of this very reason, we would like to summarize the brief pro leadership journey of the founder so that our partners and supporters would be able to appreciate the passion behind the formation of PRO Leadership Global.
Dr. Assegid W. Habtewold is the founder of PRO Leadership Global and President and CEO of Success Pathways, LLC (Success Pathways pledged to donate a portion of its profits to PRO Leadership). Currently, he is Doctor of Strategic Leadership student at Regent University. His pro leadership journey started in 1993 when he initiated the formation of a youth association. He had served the association as a chairman until he enrolled at Addis Ababa University (AAU).
The passion for serving continued at AAU and he was elected president of the students’ union in 1997. During his term, there had been many chances to collaborate with various student unions within and outside of the country, and to participate continental meetings. For instance, Assegid took part in workshops sponsored by UNESCO on the theme "Youth and Inter-Cultural Dialogue in Africa" held in Botswana and Cote d'Ivoire. He also attended a conference arranged by All Africa Students Union, Ghana- Accra, to discuss higher education in the 21st C.
Feeling indebted to his country which invested on him lots of resources including free education, Assegid was convinced that he should contribute something for the country’s democratization process and joined a political party in 2002. He was elected central committee member and became vice-chairman of research department. He had played a leading role in producing research based party documents until he came to the USA in 2005.
Since his graduation from AAU Veterinary Medicine Faculty in 2000, Assegid has been working as research assistant at an international research organization; web administrator at his university; and software engineer in a semi-conductor company. While he was working on the aforementioned positions, he was proactively contributing towards some organizational issues that were beyond his job descriptions using his spare-time and leadership experiences. Likewise, while he was doing his Master’s at University of Northern Virginia (UNVA), he was actively involving on issues that affected students. He was also coordinating efforts that benefited many students who were working with him in one of the companies that operate in Northern Virginia.
Upon graduation, Assegid was nominated to deliver a graduation speech representing graduates of June, 2007. Since then, he has been focusing on helping leaders in DC Metro area. The formation of PRO Leadership Global is the extension of these individual efforts for the last two years.
Assegid has experienced firsthand the challenges of becoming a leader. There were many people, with good intentions, who talked him out of taking leadership positions fearing the consequences of becoming a leader. Many times, his genuine efforts of serving as a leader were misunderstood and ridiculed. Moreover, he didn’t have access for leadership books, trainings, and mentoring programs that would have improved his leadership skills and prevented him from making many silly mistakes and avoidable errors. However, he no longer regrets or feels appalled about those bad experiences and depravities. Rather, he is thankful of the support he got from his family, friends, and colleagues and the opportunities he was given to serve others.
Nevertheless, looking back retrospectively, Assegid has a deep conviction that his journey could have been easier, smoother, and better if there were organizations that promote leadership, and provide leadership resources and programs for guys like him. Because of that, together with partners and supporters, he determined to contribute his share towards alleviating these and similar challenges. He is confident that the corporation could play a significant role towards making the pro leadership journey of many prospect leaders, who face the same kinds of challenges on daily basis, a little easier than his.
On top of founding PRO Leadership, recently, Assegid also wrote a book entitled "Redefining Leadership: Navigating the Path from Birthright to Fulfillment in Life!" This book provides the necessary and fundamental leadership concepts prospect leaders need to jump start this exciting journey of leadership. It has five parts and a call for stakeholders. His book is available at Amazon.
|
Follow us at Facebook
