Grooming Next Generation Leaders: Motivating Youth for Leadership
by Gail L. Thomas*
"What is leadership?” At the beginning of every year, up to 60 selected youth in Cleveland, Ohio respond to the above question as part of their application to participate in a unique leadership program. If selected, they will spend much of the year seeking answers.
The Citizenship Institute (CI), which is funded by the Mandel Foundation for Cleveland Municipal District School (CMSD), gives students aged 15-18 the opportunity to discuss, debate and deliberate, while developing their own opinions and building their leadership skills.
Each year, as I review their applications, it is obvious that their grasp of the concept of leadership and the responsibilities that leadership encompasses is clear. According to these students, leadership means having the ability to be responsible for tasks, guiding and directing others, being an active listener, setting positive standards for others to follow, being a visionary and making changes.
The characteristics which the applicants attribute to leaders are virtually infinite. Yet one aspect of their definition is almost unanimous: “A leader is a respected person who gives respect to others.” People are drawn to others who give respect. Can the emergence of a leader be far behind? We must empower and equip these potential leaders early on with the skills they need to become our future leaders.
Cultivating Youth
The Citizenship Institute was founded in 1999 by then Cleveland Mayor Michael R. White to provide high school students with the insight and mentoring they need to enhance their leadership capabilities.
The primary goal of CI is to provide students with inspiration for civic intervention and activism; to help them realize that they can become effective agents for change in their schools, neighborhoods and city. The major objective is to assist the students in acquiring the knowledge and skills necessary to be active contributors at all levels of leadership and citizenship. The program aims to cultivate their moral development; increase their cultural and global awareness; develop leadership competencies; promote involvement in community development and increase civic education, citizenship and community service.
The Magic Touch
Strategies to engage youth in their schools and communities are neither provocative, nor magical. What they lack, and what CI provides, is direction, insight and the opportunity to practically apply knowledge.
CI relies upon school administrators and teachers to identify students who already display leadership skills or those who are eager to assume responsibility. An application process is crucial to reach the number of students that can be accommodated. The classroom curriculum implemented at participating schools consists of lectures, movies and literature about leaders and the nature of leadership, and receiving feedback from students on the qualities displayed by leaders and how they create change.
Leadership in action
By far, the most effective tool for cultivating youth leadership is involving students in community service projects. These projects give the youth opportunities to apply the lessons they have learned in the classroom. They become leaders of a project, or part of a project; they become strategic planners, consensus builders, mediators, decision makers and problem solvers.
Their skills come to play at the outset, when consensus is required to choose specific projects. From this point on, students are given the opportunity to assume leadership roles. Projects can encompass any number of causes: a winter coat drive for poor elementary school children, painting a day care center, collecting food for a city pantry, raising money to buy school equipment or cleaning school rooms or grounds. Not only do students take the lead in various aspects of the project, they also often have the responsibility of getting support from fellow students or adults.
In the classroom, the students have learned that with leadership comes responsibility and accountability. They come to understand that the outcome of projects is not always as anticipated. Goals may fall short of the target; decisions may not have been weighed sufficiently to ensure the desired success. Nonetheless, they learn from those shortfalls and they see that the effort far outweighs the inaction.
Perspectives
High school students, staff and teachers have been highly enthusiastic about the CI program. “We don’t have as many personal growth and development programs in our school district as the suburban schools have, so the Citizenship Institute means a lot to us,” says Jasmin Jacobs, 19, who is studying physical therapy on a full community service scholarship at Cleveland State University. She was enrolled in the Citizenship Institute during her junior and senior years at John F. Kennedy High School, and was president of the JFK Citizenship Institute class both years.
Jasmin’s class’ community service projects included drives to provide clothing and toiletries for the homeless, activities with elementary school students, serving as big brothers/sisters and conducting fundraising activities to finance such projects.
“These activities require a lot of planning, getting in touch with people, establishing budgets and time management, so you develop a lot of skills. Students develop self-esteem when they realize what they are able to accomplish. You learn about yourself, you mature and become more independent. These experiences will help us get good jobs and become good leaders when leadership is needed.”
In a school district that has been forced to scale back extracurricular activities due to financial reasons, the CI provides the opportunity for youth to develop such skills. “A lot of our students aren’t athletes, or they shy away from joining clubs. They may not be the ‘A’ grade students who get a lot of attention, but they have a lot to offer,” says Charita Crockrom, Principal at John F. Kennedy High School. “When given a program like the Citizenship Institute which allows them to make a contribution to the community and be recognized for it, they jump at the opportunity.”
“Residents in the neighborhood, who are accustomed to seeing teenagers portrayed negatively in the media, see students in the Citizenship Institute making a positive contribution. These students are walking taller; we see evidence that their grades and self-esteem are improving,” Crockrom adds. “We have to reach kids where they are to help them get where they want to be, and the Citizenship Institute does that.”
Our Responsibility to Youth
As the baby-boomers reach their golden age, how are they preparing the “X” and “Y” generations to step into leadership roles that will become vacant in the next decade or so? I believe adult leaders should incorporate the following processes into their youth leadership programs:
• Implement an intensive application process to gauge the students’ concept of leadership. The application should include a clear and concise program purpose and the expectations of students admitted to the program.
• Create a selection process in which the adult leaders choose these young leaders objectively.
• Set clear, concise and high expectations and standards for students about their roles and responsibilities in the program; youth tend to reach the bar set for them.
• Create a challenging and motivating atmosphere so the students can realize remarkable achievements. Such an atmosphere will inspire them to complete tasks, or achieve goals for their projects.
• Train, teach and nurture these youth through a range of strategies to help them reach their potential as great leaders.
According to authors Josephine A. Long and Carl I. Fertman, who wrote “Youth Leadership: A Guide to Understanding Leadership Development in Adolescents,” young people begin to engage in leadership at a very young age and their involvement intensifies rapidly as they move into their teenage years. As adult leaders it is our responsibility to create environments that will nurture the leadership potential among youth today who will assume the mantle of leadership tomorrow.
*Gail L. Thomas is Program Director of the Citizenship Institute in Cleveland, Ohio
