What Does it Mean to Lead?

What Is It To You?

You can find a ton of definitions for the words leader and leadership, but to become a good leader you have to understand what those words mean to you.

I had to do the same thing with I started my job with Sask in motion, part of my job here is to be a leader in the physical activity movement. I’m also trying to encourage other young people to become leaders themselves. When I started thinking about the idea of influencing other people my age got a little overwhelmed. Being a leader is daunting enough, but to train other people to be solid “youth leaders” seems more challenging.

What To Do?

Yes, youth leading youth is a definite challenge, so I did what I usually do when I want an answer… I googled it! I typed in “youth leadership activities” and the first thing that popped was a Youth Leadership Development site from Penn State’s Agriculture Department. (Yah, that wasn’t where I was expecting to find the answers, but ‘whatevz, I’ll take it!’)

You’ve Gotta See This!

I could tell the site was sweet right away and made a mental note to tell you guys about it as soon as I was finished checking things out myself. The site talks about what leadership is; it features a series of articles, a list of great resources, a research section and best of all, a section of easy to follow training materials. The training materials section includes lessons, activities, power points, and tools on 13 topics that focus on helping youth become better leaders.

I’m not going to bother summarizing all the resource for you because there is just way too much great info to fit into one blog post. I hope you’ll check it out for yourself because it really is a great read. The writers kept it brief and direct. And don’t forget, the site is for everyone, it doesn’t matter what kind of leadership you aspire to, or at what level, I bet you’ll find something of value.

The Basics

The first topic I read was, Basic Leadership, and by the time I was done reading this portion of the information I felt like I had a better grasp of what being a leader means to me. And like I said earlier, to become a good leader you need to develop your own definition of leadership. 

Here are some other points I picked out from my reading:

1)     Study Good Leaders – Think about who inspires you. Consider why you trust them and listen to what they have to say? 

2)     Study Yourself – What qualities can you improve or acquire to become a better leader? Can you learn more about your area of interest? Can you adjust certain attitudes? Can you be more visible or take more action?

3)     Become a Good Follower – Leading doesn’t always start from the front. Have you gotten involved with a group that interests you? If not, is there a person or group making an impact that you can get involved with? [Perhaps a physical activity movement like Saskatchewan in motion (hint hint)] Join them, you can learn a lot about what it takes to inspire trust and gain confidence from following/watching an established leader.

4)     Learn About Different Groups – Don’t blindly follow something/someone just to be trendy, do your research! Understand where a group comes from and what influences their actions. Make sure you know what you’re volunteering to be a part of. While learning about other groups you may find a perfect fit for interests, and you’ll definitely gain knowledge in the process.

5)     Actively Plan Your Training – Check out ways to improve your ability to lead. You can take an online course or enrol in a local class to gain new skills. You can informally educate yourself with research and training that you find yourself (like the resource I’ve been talking about)! Whatever you do, make a plan with timelines and goals to help get yourself where you want to go!

Hopefully I gave you enough persuasive info to convince you to explore the resources I stumbled upon. Shout out to the people who created the site and put together all the information it’s truly an awesome resource! Thanks for sharing it with us!

Kenji

References:

College of Agriculture Sciences, Youth Leadership Development, Penn State.

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