Leadership Development: Preparing Young Leaders

The problem with being a leader is that it can be often a burden, mainly, because it's challenging to be responsible for others. Even more so trying to model transformative leadership in a generation where people want to see instant results.

Most people try to avoid this level of responsibility as much as they can. And even in avoidance, sometimes, you're drafted into being the fearless leader. This can overwhelm a leader of small team or a large corporation. The pressure is the same. You must produce results. You must lead your team to success. This pressure to succeed is why leadership development programs are in high demand.

Knowing yourself is key. This alone can make or break the success of your leadership strategy. We hear it all the time, “We need leadership development.” But what is it really? And how do we translate that to something young leaders can benefit from? Leadership development may sound like some archaic business buzzword but all it boils down to is that leadership can be taught. Some of it can be taught. There is an innate ability and skill that some people have. We all have probably come across someone who doesn’t need development to be efficient. The development helps them grow and mature in their leadership. But, there are some necessary skills that can be and should be taught in order for leaders to flourish and replicate success on levels below them. This is a necessary skill set that young leaders need to be competitive, even while still in middle and high school. Leadership development seeks to inculcate skills and values that will help you lead successfully. But, how do we do this?

First of all, leadership development focuses on planning. This is why you notice that most programs like these emphasize you to develop a personal plan for yourself. Plans are generally very helpful – like the old saw says “Measure twice and cut once”, it means that you have a clearly defined path to follow. This way there will be no confusion on the way you have to go to improve yourself. Do we require the young leaders in our lives to have a plan? Now, they don’t have to plan their lives until age 50, but do they have a plan to successfully complete high school in a manner that produces scholarship and admittance to a school of their choice? Do our young leaders have a plan to impact their local communities in areas of peer to peer mentorship and guidance?

Next, leadership development emphasizes strict self-assessment. People often say that they know enough about themselves but the truth is, most of us know nothing about ourselves! And refuse to admit this! But self-assessment is one of the most critical tools necessary to ensure a leader grows and continues to effectuate change. Now, we mostly don’t know as much about ourselves as we should because most people like to think well of themselves – as we should! But understanding where there is opportunity for growth is essential as well. Leadership development counselors are strict about you identifying your opportunities for growth because it will help you deal with them in the future. People need a leader who can inspire them to do their best. The ability to recognize the problematic aspects of your personality and to either minimize or remove them is one of the hallmarks of good leadership. Are we providing a safe environment for young leaders to self-assess and make necessary changes? Are we modeling self-assessment and implementing necessary changes for our young leader?

Ensuring that our young leaders are developing as effective, strong, and transformative leaders is essential to the success we have as adults now. So, as we continue to build ourselves, let us not forget to build our young leaders as well.

To learn more about HEY! Helping Empower Youth, Inc. develops young leaders, visit www.helpingempoweryouth.org

KaCey Venning is a sought after speaker regarding youth service, leadership development and community involvement.