How to teach leadership to youth?

Teaching Youth and Young Adults to Be Leaders

Traditionally September is the month whereby most schools in my area start the new school year. Every year I hear parents talking about the curriculum and what is in or out and what should be in or out. However, raising the world’s future responsible is definitely not limited to school activities, on the contrary, the future leaders’ skills are developed predominantly extra-curriculum.

Leadership skills are important for all kinds of successes in life, from employment to relationships. The general consensus is that such skills are lacking among adults and young people. Whether you have youth and young adults in your home or otherwise under your supervision, you can invest in their futures by teaching them how to be leaders. Here are some tips for teaching youth and young adults to be leaders.

Give Them Responsibility

As a youth group leader, parent, teacher, or other authority figure, this can seem like a scary prospect. Are they ready for responsibility? Can they handle it? Give them something to be responsible for that will build their self-confidence, but don’t make it something that’s life-and-death. Take your teens’ personal skills, strengths, and weaknesses into consideration, too. Here are some examples of responsibilities for teens.

• Running an errand for you, such as picking up something from the store. If they can’t drive, you can drop them off to run the errand.
• Opening up a bank account.
• Let them lead a class or group.
• Household chores like laundry could be delegated to the young adults and teens in your home.
• Have them organize the set-up and clean-up of an event.

Jobs stimulate leadership

One of those ironies of good leadership is that being under leadership is often a great way to learn it. Youth and young adults would do well to work at least part-time, thus learning responsibility and also learning what is involved in good leadership. Having a job is an important responsibility that can prepare young people to lead. Consider jobs like camp counselor or babysitter, too. Those are both jobs that put young people in charge of others.

Leadership workshops

Are there leadership workshops available in your area? If not, see if you can hire a leadership consultant to come in and speak to your group. Maybe you can find someone to speak to your teen’s class, or hold a seminar on your young adult’s college campus. If there is a workshop available, take your youth group to the workshop, or sign your kids up.

Groups and Organizations

Organizations like Scouts and the likes, are also good ways for young adults and youth to learn leadership skills. There are all kinds of opportunities in these organizations for youth and young adults. Other clubs and groups encourage leadership among members, too. Find out about what is offered in your community, often there are very local initiatives to support youth developing their social skill and specifically leadership skills.

It is always good to investigate and explore the possibilities available to you to get them the best experience possible in their development.

Have a conscious day!

Filip