Leadership for Students

A Guide for Young Leaders

Frances A. Karnes, Suzanne Bean

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2021
• Print ISBN: 9781593633981
• eBook ISBN: 9781000494129
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education Teaching Methods

The second edition of Leadership for Students: A Guide for Young Leaders explodes with positive ideas and activities that will help your students discover their leadership abilities. The activities throughout this book stimulate the exploration of ideas and encourage critical thinking about leadership. Students will find guidance and advice that emphasize leadership skills in a variety of settings, including leadership in the classroom, school activities, and the community. Including real-life stories on how students took on leadership positions, this book is a must-read for anyone wanting to make a difference.

The book includes a Leadership Action Journal that allows students to record their thoughts and actions as they develop their leadership skills. With exciting learning activities like conducting a survey on the characteristics of being a good leader, organizing a debate on leadership, interviewing community leaders, and developing and implementing a plan for becoming a leader, this is the essential leadership book for the 21st century.

Introduction to Leadership

DOI: 10.4324/9781003236139-1

SHORTLY after birth, we begin on a lifelong journey of learning about ourselves and how to interact with other people—first our family members and later friends, schoolmates, peers, colleagues, and business associates. As preschool children we learn to negotiate the use of playground equipment and make compromises over toys. As school-aged students we test our own potential at forming friendships and influencing others. Later in school and the community, we join or form groups, clubs, and organizations, and we begin to learn the art of weaving relationships as we work with others toward common goals. This is the foundation from which leadership grows. Howard Gardner (1999) might call these skills your interpersonal skills.

Also important to your leadership growth are your intrapersonal skills. These are the skills of self-knowledge, or understanding your own strengths, your limitations, and areas of your personhood. In his theory of multiple intelligences, Gardner (1999) refers to these two intelligences, interpersonal skills and intrapersonal skills, as the crowning capacity for life. Regardless of what field of study or career you choose, how well you understand yourself and how well you relate to others are skills that are critical to your success and happiness in life. Genuine leaders know themselves and connect well with others.

Others may call this emotional intelligence. In his book, Emotional Intelligence: Why It Can Matter More Than IQ, Daniel Goleman (1995) noted that people with a high level of emotional intelligence (EQ) generally are assertive people who feel positively about themselves and are able to express their feelings appropriately These skills of emotional intelligence include, but are not limited to, putting people at ease, empathy, compassion, straightforwardness and composure, self-awareness, building and mending relationships, social poise, decision making, confronting problems and challenges, and managing change. These qualities and skills of emotional intelligence make us stronger, more human leaders.

WHY DEVELOP LEADERSHIP POTENTIAL?

Leadership begins with influence and in every person lies great potential to influence others. Some influence others in negative ways, but the most effective leaders among us are those who use their influence to move people in a positive manner toward a common purpose or goal. Whether you have a heart for helping people or you like to build relationships, there is a potential leader inside of you. You have the ability to influence others and to make positive changes in this world. Our world is crying out for strong leaders. At a time when Americans are deeply concerned about their present and future prospects in a time of economic uncertainty and society is facing complex business, political, scientific, technological, health, and environmental challenges, strong leaders are desperately needed to guide us in hope, unity, and creative problem solving. There is greater diversity in the American population than ever before, but there also is a greater desire to experience community and collaboration.

You are part of a generation that wants to seize the moment. Youth in your generation see the mess that the world is in and feel compelled to change it. You have the potential to replace the existing pessimism with optimism and to work for the greater good of mankind. Dr. John Maxwell (2002) said, "Our world needs leaders who know the way, go the way, and show the way." You have the potential within you to accomplish this!

QUALITIES OF LEADERSHIP

In a recent article in Parade Magazine, renowned presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin (2008) identified 10 attributes of leadership that have made some of our American presidents exceptional. Although leadership does not require one to be elected into office or position, thinking about qualities of leaders seen in presidents is a good place to start. Think about what each of these qualities mean, which of them you possess, and which you would like to further develop:

• ★ the courage to stay strong,
• ★ self-confidence,
• ★ an ability to learn from errors,
• ★ a willingness to change,
• ★ emotional intelligence,
• ★ self-control,
• ★ a popular touch (awareness of what the public needs),
• ★ a moral compass,
• ★ a capacity to relax, and
• ★ a gift for inspiring others.

There are many qualities necessary for effective leaders to possess and not every leader possesses all of these qualities. It is important for you to begin to consider what you think makes a great leader and how you might begin to build some of these qualities in yourself.

PERSONALITY TYPE AND LEADERSHIP

Your personality, temperament, preferences, and talents all impact your leadership style. To learn more about your particular personality type, you might want to visit http://www.humanmetrics.com and take the Jung Typology test. It only takes a few minutes and you can learn a lot about yourself through this test. Once you know your 4-letter type, visit http://www.personalitypage.com to learn even more about your personality type and the strengths and limitations you may have as a leader. This will help build your intrapersonal skills. Remember that there is more than one right way to lead and more than one right type of leadership personality. You don't have to be an extraverted, outspoken dynamo to be an effective leader, nor do you have to fundamentally change who you are to lead. You may be a strong-willed driver; a compliant, cautious diplomat; or even a creative, sensitive dreamer. All of these personality types can contribute to leadership. The key is knowing yourself and being yourself, no matter what group you are with!

CHANGES IN LEADERSHIP

Early in the history of the world it was believed that great men (yes, at that time, men only) emerged as leaders born with certain traits or qualities that separated them from followers. Today, we know through many years of research that leadership is something that develops and grows and can be learned. Rather than the old, top-down authority ("I'm in charge") model, Lee and King (2001) offere...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• Preface
• Introduction to Leadership
• Individual and Group Leadership Accomplishments
• Leadership Action Journal
• Leadership Action Forms
• Leadership Quotes
• Resources
• References
• About the Authors