David Bonney

I am excited to be selected as a delegate for the 6th African Youth SDGs Summit in Accra, Ghana. I will be joining other leaders, policymakers from across Africa and beyond. This summit, it is a platform to learn, connect, and co-create solutions for the Africa we want.

A person can occupy the highest office in a room and still have the least influence.

12. The difference between authority and influence Authority can come from a title, an appointment or an organisational structure. Influence is different. Influence is earned through credibility, consistency, competence and the ability to move people towards an idea.

Being liked is valuable. Being responsible is essential.

11. Leadership is not popularity Leadership is not simply the ability to attract followers or receive applause. Sometimes, it requires making difficult decisions, challenging comfortable arrangements and accepting criticism for choices whose benefits may only become visible later

📌SERIES 03 — Leadership: Challenging established thinking

An independent mind must occasionally audit its own beliefs. Ask yourself: Do I actually understand why I believe this?

The danger of borrowed opinions Not every opinion you hold is necessarily yours. Some are inherited from your environment, others absorbed from influential personalities and many adopted simply because they are repeated frequently.

Even delays have a Purpose!

The ability to challenge an argument without attacking the individual is an underrated intellectual skill. We need more conversations that sharpen ideas rather than destroy relationships.

09. Learn to disagree intelligently Disagreement should not automatically become hostility. Two people can approach the same issue from different experiences, evidence and assumptions.

Intellectual progress often begins with a question.

08. Ask better questions Sometimes, the most valuable contribution in a room is not having the quickest answer. It is asking the question nobody else considered. Better questions expose assumptions, reveal overlooked opportunities and force people to reconsider familiar positions

The real question should not be whether a system has existed for decades, but whether it still serves its purpose.

07. The problem with "This is how we've always done it" One sentence has probably prevented more innovation than we realise: "This is how we've always done it." Tradition can preserve valuable knowledge, but it can also preserve inefficiency.

But the world changes. Markets evolve, technologies disrupt industries and new generations encounter challenges their predecessors never faced. We should respect experience without making it immune to questioning.

06. Conventional wisdom deserves examination Conventional wisdom is useful because it gives societies established ways of navigating familiar problems.