Luis Rafael Cordova Miranda - The Greatest Virtue That College Gives You Isn’t a Degree, but the Experiences You Get From It (Young Leader)

 

Every day we find ourselves in a more digitized and globalized world than the day

before, and it can seem that interpersonal relationships are in decline, although it is true that many people are losing these social skills because they are behind a

screen or a social network, it is totally wrong to think that leadership or

communication are tools that will be less and less necessary.

1. Please tell us about your background and journey.

My name is Rafael Cordova, I’m 23 years old, I was born and raised in Bolivia, but in recent years I had some of the greatest impacts in my life when I had the luck of travel through different cultures and realities in the world, and that’s why now I
consider me as a global citizen, but that's something we'll talk about later. 

I always considered myself a person who was not at the same pace as others, or
perhaps the world. Sometimes further behind, sometimes further ahead but never
lower. Thanks to my family I was able to have a good childhood where I never lacked for anything. 

I was the president of the Student Center in my last year of school. I am
currently studying International Business and I have just finished my term as Local President of AIESEC in Altiplano, after successfully taking on different roles I am anxious to see what the next challenge the organization has in store for me.

2. When and why did you join AIESEC?

I joined AIESEC in August 2018 after taking my global volunteering in Suez, Egypt. A trip where I had one of the most important intrapersonal discovery trips so far, and that’s why I continue in the organization because I fully trust what it does and what it fights for.

Upon entering the organization I found myself with different challenges from day
one, and because it’s a place where I grew day by day that’s why I decided to
continue taking more and more roles. That’s why I became local Vice President of
Sales, part of the national support team in Bolivia and France, among other roles
until becoming local President. 

Despite having had different details during my volunteering, I found a different organization, a capable organization and an organization that despite being a little over 70 years old is an organization that is constantly innovating due to all the young people that make it up, and that at this moment is the organization that the world needs.

3. Why do you think itis important for people to develop leadership skills early on?

Every day we find ourselves in a more digitized and globalized world than the day
before, and it can seem that interpersonal relationships are in decline, although it is true that many people are losing these social skills because they are behind a
screen or a social network, it is totally wrong to think that leadership or
communication are tools that will be less and less necessary.

We are a social animal by nature, we always were and always will be, and in these
times where all processes -as well as people- are more standardized and lack
initiative and innovation (generally due to a reduction in costs) companies such as
life is in charge of looking for the differentiating factor, and that factor is precisely
leadership. 

With a globalized society, problems also become globalized, and that’s
why human growth is increasingly necessary. The world needs changemakers,
dreamers, storytellers, and special doers, and this is the time to step forward for
that.

4. What have been your biggest learnings from your experience?

I learned several things in the past years, but one of the most recent learning was
the fact that we don't have to be afraid of being afraid. Usually, we are faced with
the idea of the perfect life, especially in the new generations, and that there is no
room for mistakes, it is time to remove the stigma of imperfection and begin to
internally reconcile ourselves. 

We are human beings, with feelings and failures, we are complex beings, and we must understand that our weaknesses are what make us stronger in the face of the new adversities that we live in every day.

5. What advice would you give to people who just enter college?

This is a special question for me, I never considered myself a person aligned
towards degrees or traditional teaching, that’s why I was never focused on my
career, where I was wasting my opportunities and potential by not taking
advantage of my time in college. 

There was even a time when I left college, at this time I dedicated myself to myself, and for AIESEC, I attended an international conference in Argentina, went backpacking, and even went to Lollapalooza. 

Having this time for reflection and personal knowledge made me realize that although the system may not be perfect for each of us, we must understand that there are certain advantages and opportunities in which we have to make them fit ourselves. 

At the end of the day, the greatest virtue that College gives you isn’t a degree, but the experiences you get from it, the knowledge, discipline, and more importantly a network of contacts that are fundamental in the world we live in.

6. How has AIESEC adapted during Covid?

Being local President during the Covid was one of the biggest challenges, in fact
when the pandemic started in March I was in Turkey participating in a congress. In itself, it was quite difficult to experience the problem first-hand as I was barely able to return to Bolivia. And with all these difficulties I had to face the fact of leading more than 30 people during all this challenging time. 

One of the greatest strengths of AIESEC is the people, and it is precisely thanks to the fact that it had a great team that is why we were able to do a great job in the face of the situation, a few months before the pandemic, Bolivia was in a great socio-political instability, in which all activities also stopped, fortunately, the problems were eventually solved, and the resilience you get from these events is precisely because you are in an organization that understands the world, and understands people, that’s one of the greatest strengths that the organization has and that must be replicated in the rest of the world.

7. Which is your favorite book and why?

I'm not sure if I have a favorite book, but I can recommend two excellent books. The first one is: The art of loving, which was the last book I finished, written by
psychoanalyst and social philosopher Erich Fromm, I assure you that for those in
love with life and questioners of the unknown like me, this will be a book that while they read it It will get more than one doubt out of life, and when they finish it they will probably not be the same.

And the second one is: Grayscale: A Memoir of an Introverted Leader which is
written by Mohamed Fadel, former President of AIESEC International, I am
currently reading this book and it’s perfect for those AIESEC members or those
interested in a little trip in the organization will have a good time with the book.

Luis Rafael Cordova Miranda 

Interviewed By: Nishad Kinhikar