3 Leadership Lessons from Viola

If you clicked on the link, you’re probably wondering, “Who is Viola?” and perhaps even, “What does she know about leadership?”

Great questions. So, let me tell you about Viola.

Viola is a young woman from New York City. She is the daughter of immigrant parents who nurtured her creative soul and encouraged her to explore the world. She is a young American frustrated with a lack of access to higher education for the disadvantaged, unemployment, and the government’s financial focus on war and military enrichment. She believes strongly in young Americans being actively involved in their society in an effort to make our country strong and prosperous. Viola also started a national youth movement to get young people engaged in the political and social issues facing our country.

You see, Viola Ilma was a leader in her day – the early 1930’s. In a time when ‘leadership,’ ‘community service,’ and ‘women leadership’ were not part of our vernacular, she was exercising all of these things, setting an example for many young people. As she founded the American Youth Congress (AYC) in 1934 at the age of 24, she initiated a mass youth movement that set the stage for active social involvement for groups to follow. In researching the AYC — and more specifically, Viola — I have gleaned many great leadership lessons from her that have transcended time.

Become Educated…Unconventionally: We all know that formal education and training can be beneficial for our life and career development — but can you become educated in other ways? Viola believed in learning as much as one can, but didn’t subscribe to the notion that one must go to college to receive that education but that one learns best from life experiences. She learned much about the world and leadership from interacting with people from a range of social, cultural, and political backgrounds and from traveling and being actively involved in her community. Look for opportunities to learn and grow that may not be considered conventional!

Ignore The Odds: In addition to being a young activist, Viola was a successful writer and publisher. In her early 20’s she wanted to be a copyeditor, a job generally reserved for men. Not indicating she was a woman on her job application, (i.e. Name: V. Ilma) she was granted an interview because of her prior experience but was immediately given the job because the publisher admired her moxie in pursuing the position. Oftentimes, we may not pursue a dream or an opportunity because of the fear of failure or being rejected. Viola would say ‘nonsense!’ and encourage us all to ignore the odds and pursue our ambitions.

Don’t Let Setbacks Set You Back: Viola successfully started the AYC, a national youth organization and a mass student movement, at a time when young people were often ignored in this country. A success to be sure. Yet, she didn’t remain in charge of the group or even actively involved after its first year due to the political maneuvering and shady tactics from other youth activists. Viola didn’t wallow in her frustration, but instead forged ahead and continued to serve her community and country in other ways. She demonstrated tenacity, commitment, and a positive attitude even when a bad thing unexpectedly happened.

There is a lot of great leadership advice and insights available to use today from scholars, practitioners, and educators. We are fortunate! But sometimes we need to look into our past to see what lessons can be learned from someone who may be unknown to us now, but tackled the same problems in a similar time. We just may learn something new!

Sources: Ilma, V. And Now, Youth! (New York City: Robert O. Ballou, 1934); Viola Ilma, The Political Virgin (New York City: Duell, Sloan and Pearce, 1958)