If you were one of those who were at the Senate Bhaban for TEDxDhaka 2012, you’ll know what I mean when I say E.A’s talk was awe-inspiring. The event was definitely a memorable one, albeit with a few glitches here and there, but it was all a part of the excitement.
Besides E.A, there was a diverse group of speakers who told us of their worlds – much like E.A did with leadership. The group included
- Dr. K. Siddique-e Rabbani (an amazingly brilliant man – the first ‘scientist’ I’ve met so far!)
- Mohammad Tauheed (one of the organizers of the event)
- Jishnu Brahmaputra (or Main Man, as the gaming world knows him)
- Iraj Islam (of NewsCred)
- Taslima Miji (CEO, Techmania)
- Ivy Huq Russel (of Maya)
- Khaled Mahmud (CEO, Headoffice)
- Cal Jahan (another organizer of the event).
A powerhouse group, no doubt, despite some of their stage-fright.
I won’t go into much details, but I do want to share a few of my favourite moments from E.A’s speech. Believe it or not, I already knew most of the things he spoke about, and yet I was blown away! I’m sure I can say the same for the other BBLT graduates present.
He began with a slow pace – he singled out an everyday problem, incorporating leadership into it.
“What kind of leadership is needed to move the work forward?” he asked, pausing before admitting it sounded a little heavy.
"Leadership is not person-centric, it is work centric."
“My name is Ejaj Ahmad, and I teach leadership at the Bangladesh Youth Leadership Center, and I am here to share with you today the lessons that I have learnt and the insights that I have developed for the past three years from working with the brightest students of our country from diverse education, religious and socio-economic backgrounds.”
The perfect introduction, I’d say. Simple yet powerful – and most importantly, perfectly understandable.
Then, he moved onto some of the familiar leadership theories; well, familiar to BBLT graduates. Even then, he managed to show it to us from a different perspective, which was a refreshing touch. He grabbed everyone’s attention instantaneously, improvising some bits to connect with those present by adding value to the audience.
What struck me was how he referred to speeches by speakers before him, working their concepts into what he was trying to explain. A personal favourite was his contradiction to Iraj Islam’s speech on innovation:
“But innovation is also inefficient, because innovation has a high failure rate. You have to run experiments to innovate, you don’t just innovate the first time!”
This wasn’t the only captivating moment, though. You can now watch his talk at TEDxDhaka here.
If you want more, apply for BYLC’s second Youth Leadership Summit (YLS)! It will be held April 26-28, 2012. To apply, fill out this application by March 10, 2012. And no, this isn’t pure advertising – I genuinely enjoyed TEDxDhaka, and YLS 2011, and am definitely applying for YLS 2012!
Amiya Atahar, BBLT 3 Graduate
Amazing! Thoroughly enjoyed reading a blog after a long time, Amiya! You have still got it in you – I’m impressed!
Eagerly looking forward to the next sequel! 
No sequel, ‘Dad. I’m still waiting for yours!