Tavis Smiley, author and award-winning PBS talk-show host, addressed a group of students at Franklin High School last week as part of his Talented Tenth Tour. The Tour, organized by the Tavis Smiley Foundation, was created to identify and train non-traditional leaders in under-served and under-represented communities.

In his address, Smiley challenged the students to not be afraid to stand up and to become leaders in whatever it is that they do the best. “If everything around us serves a purpose, doesn’t it make sense that you are here to serve a purpose,” Smiley asked of the students. “You’ve got to get in where you fit in,” said Smiley. “You are better than a job. You are here to find your vocation and not to just have a job.” Smiley, quickly got the young people’s attention as he surprisingly started handing out $20 bills to students who could correctly answer question about current day global event. In what started out with only a few hands going up in the air as he asked questions quickly turned into a frenzy of waiving hands and the blurting out of correct answers in an effort to get a $20 bill. Tavis’ generosity was not without a purpose, as it led to his next point. “In order to be a leader you have to be aware and awake,” he said. “In today’s world half of the folks are awake and if they are awake.. they aren’t aware,” he said. “You can’t lead people, if you don’t love people,” he said. “And you can’t save people, if you won’t serve people.” “In every generation of your people somebody has to identify the 10 percent that are willing to step up and lead,” he continued. “When I say lead I mean servant leadership.” “If you call yourself a leader and you look back behind yourself and no one is following you… then you are just out for a walk,” he added. “You have to lead by example.” Smiley went on to challenge the youth to step up and fight for what they believe in and to be prepared to be criticized in the process. “You’re dream should be so big that people will laugh at you, and that should be your motivation… to achieve what they believed you couldn’t do.” said Smiley. Prior to finishing his presentation, Smiley acknowledged that the next generation indeed has a lot of hard work ahead of them in order to create positive changes in the world. He told them that they are the ones who are left to clean up a mess that has been left for them by previous generations, and that in order to be successful they have to do it out of their own love to make a difference. “You are all that we have and someone in your generation has to do the best that they can, with what they have, right where they are,” he said. “It’s not about always succeeding, it’s not about failing, what really matters is whether or not you stayed committed,” said Smiley “Life is about who and what has influenced you and how you share that influence with the rest of the world,” said Smiley as he finished his remarks to the students.