The AIESEC Way
Last updated
Last updated
The AIESEC Way is the members‘ guide that explains what is the purpose of our (AIESEC's) existence but also the unique way of how the organization is achieving it. Reminder: The goal of this article is not for members to try and memorize all words or concepts. This article should bring members back to the purpose of the organization and provide clarity for everyday actions. The AIESEC Way document is NOT a bunch of nice statements and it is NOT a document you should only glance through. It will not solve all your problems or answer all of your questions. AIESEC members are encouraged to constantly review and discuss the AIESEC Way.
Cross-Cultural Exchanges AIESEC provides an opportunity for young people to work or volunteer abroad in non-familiar environments.This allows them to step outside their comfort zone and expand their worldview, while contributing to the community in which they are working. Living such experiences enables people to build a better understanding of how to communicate and capitalize on diversity in our increasingly connected word.
Team Experiences AIESEC members work in teams to create and manage these cross-cultural exchange experiences. This provides an opportunity for our members to live powerful team experiences and develop their own leadership potential.
Inner and Outer Journey We believe that young people learn best by doing and reflecting. The following diagram shows the framework AIESEC provided in every experience, enabling young people to learn the most from every experience. The Outer Journey is the individual's interaction with the external environment. The Inner Journey is the internal change that happens within the individual. The combination of the two ensures that what someone learns from any experience will stay with them forever.
The Values are one of the most important part of AIESEC Way. Is something that every member is going through. This six values everyone must know whenever someone asking you what are the values of AIESEC.
Our leadership development model consists of characteristics we want to develop through the experiences we provide as an organization. These characteristics are fundamentals, which enable life-long leadership journey of young person.
Impact Your journey’s impact on society. This enables young people to see their connection with the world and take ownership and responsibility for their actions and impact.
Individual responsibility Taking individual responsibility with clear goals is a first step in the outer journey of leadership development.
Challenging role and environment Your role and surrounding environment push you to leave your comfort zone, enabling you to learn.
Interaction with multiple stakeholders The diversity and quantity of stakeholders to which an individual is accountable heavily influence’s one leadership development. For example, interaction with diverse cultures or different types of stakeholders (boss - customer - colleague, AIESEC - company - NGO, etc).
Reflect on your experience Going through self - reflection exercises to understand how are achieving personal goals, changing throughout the experience, and capture your learnings and realizations.
Support system In the outer journey there should be some support system for the inner journey. It can be a mentor, coach, buddy, etc. A support system can be provided by AIESEC or any other external stakeholder.
Set personal goals The inner Leadership journey starts with understanding where you are currently and with setting goals for what you want to gain from the experience. Understand your personal values By living the experience and going through inner journey you realize the fundamental things about yourself – your values and how they impact your everyday life.
Reinvent yourself Capturing the learning from this experience to use it in the future; Understanding your ‘new self.
