Young Leaders - A leader is someone who develops other leaders

1. Use a predictive assessment tool.

While conventional thinking says that people have to earn trust first, Covey found that in healthy organizations, leaders are willing to give trust to their followers first, and they give it as a gift even before it's earned. They will show interest in coaching, mentoring, and making others better. This is what you want to see in future leaders -- a growth mindset of developing talent in the organization. These leaders take the time to provide excellent feedback to others.

They will empower others to achieve their goals, bringing out the best in people, and helping them develop. High potentials aren't just high achievers. They are driven to succeed. They will go the extra mile and know that making sacrifices comes with the territory. When they arrive at the tough fork on the road, they make the hard and right choice on sheer ambition, without ever, ever, ever, compromising their values and beliefs. Don't try this if your straight-laced company goes by the bureaucratic book of rules.

Contrarians are entrepreneurial-minded people that push against the status quo by doing, thinking, and behaving in unconventional ways, at the speed of innovation. One great example of a whole culture of "contrarians" is found in Big Ass Solutions , the manufacturer of Big Ass Fans. From my perspective, that is the definition of an entrepreneur -- somebody or a group of people continuously trying to tread a new or different path.

When you hire bright people who take the initiative and are creative, and you offer them that opportunity, you've opened the door to being entrepreneurial. The powerful and required skill of communication is essential to those who will eventually take over management positions. When good communicators speak, people listen and take action. Look for a high potential leader who has the ability to be present and authentic when speaking, provide constructive positive and negative feedback, and explain ideas and strategies in a clear and concise manner.

They communicate with radical honesty, and they do it with the intent of developing trust with others. Does the potential leader help others? Place others before themselves? The more people become leaders, the more problems we will solve. We need community leaders to think about and organize around many issues: Each issue will require a troop of skilled leaders to handle them. We need leaders who are women, young people we were all young once , people of color, low -income people, immigrants, people with disabilities and many others that have been told that they should follow others, not lead.

We need leadership from all walks of life in order for ours to be a truly democratic society. How will all those leaders work together? That is a skill that community leaders need to learn. We all have to learn to cooperate. We all need to put aside longings for turf, status, and power in order to achieve goals that benefit everyone. Of course, having a title can be useful, at times. The following are some examples of community leadership carried out by leaders who have formal positions or titles. What is true about all of the examples above is simply this: One or more people took responsibility for their communities.

You can always lead. As we've said earlier, you can "lead" whether you are the designated leader or not. You can always think and act like a leader. For example, while you are sitting in a committee meeting you can think about what will help move the group forward. Does the designated leader need some encouragement? Do people need a nudge to follow through? Do you need to take an unpopular stand on an issue? People are hungry for others to help. If you take initiative to improve a situation, you will almost always delight, relieve, and surprise people. You don't have to take over someone's leadership role in order to help things go well.

In fact, one way of helping a group function better is by supporting the official leader. You can do this by organizing others to help with the work, by listening to the leader, and by encouraging the leader when she or he feels discouraged. People learn how to lead. Even the people who seem to do it naturally had to learn the skills of leadership.

They might have learned by watching their parents, teachers, or clergy.

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They might have been given a lot of responsibility when they were young and might have been expected to take charge. They might even have taken classes in "leadership development. The point is this: If you don't feel that you are a "born" leader, don't let that stop you. You can become a leader by:. Below is a list of what community leaders do. You don't have to be able to do all of these things right now. But most likely you are already doing some of them. You can pick up other skills as you go.

Maybe you didn't think that day dreaming was part of being a leader. In fact, day dreaming is one of the first things you need to do as a leader. If you are going to be a leader, it is necessary to dream big for yourself and for what you want to accomplish. Lili Fini Zanuck, a film director and producer, said, "Nothing happens without a dream.

The daydreaming mind will wander to something greater than the conscious mind could ever have imagined. The more you visualize your dream, the more you understand it. That's how you begin. Soon you're on the road to realizing your dream. Young people often have big hopes and dreams for what they can do to improve their worlds. If each one of us could remember our dreams as children, we might recall that we had some ideas too. You can start by creating your own personal vision statement.

You put your dream into words that communicate to others a picture of what you want to do. Organizations have vision statements; and you, as a leader, can have your own vision statement, too. Martin Luther King, Jr. Now it's your turn. Write out a few sentences of how you want some part of your world to be. Your vision statement will remind you of where you want to be going. As you wade through the day-to-day tasks of community organizing, sometimes without recognition or encouragement, remember to, "keep your eyes on the prize. Listen to what people have to say. You need their thoughts and input.

They will grow in confidence and become more engaged if they know their opinions are valued. Even the most difficult people have some important things to say. We just have to learn to listen well enough to find the kernels of truth among all the chaff. You have to make a decision to lead and view yourself as a community leader.

No one else can contribute what you can. You have a point of view that no one else has. You have a set of skills that is unique. Your corner of the world will be different if you decide to act on its behalf. Give your vision a sharper image. Turn up the focus.

Set some long-term and short term goals. That is how you carve a real path to your vision. For example, if your vision is: As a leader, you need to think about how each individual is affecting the group. Are there individuals whose talents are not being well used? Is someone acting in a way that is divisive or is draining the group of its energy? Is there a person who needs some help learning how to work in a team? Someone has to think about the group as a whole. Is the group cohesive? Do people in the group have a shared vision? Is there trust and a sense of mutual support? Does the group need some training to help it function better?

Are there some policies the group needs to strengthen it? Groups need direction and policies to keep them moving towards their goals. You don't have to be a dictator to make proposals. You can make proposals, then listen to people's responses and then make appropriate changes. Someone needs to take responsibility for moving the whole group forward.

Someone has to wade through the mud and do whatever it takes. This includes getting others to help, and making sure that all the bases are covered so that the job gets done right; when need be, it also means printing out labels, cleaning up the kitchen, making those extra phone calls, staying up late, or getting up very early. Last, but not least: One of the central and long-term jobs of a community leader is to develop other leaders.

Developing leaders is how we build a strong community of individuals that can work together to achieve goals. It is the basis for how a democracy works.

Developing leadership is a way you can have a legacy behind you — people who will continue to advance your cause and your goals after you have left the scene. Community leaders should spend a good chunk of their time recruiting, encouraging, training, mentoring, and supporting others to become leaders. Leadership development is a long-term investment. Often community leaders have to put the development of other leaders ahead of achieving short-term goals.

For example, it may be more important to take the risk of letting a relatively inexperienced person chair a small meeting and acquire new skills. If the meeting gets messy, perhaps that is not so bad. Leadership development is not a tidy endeavor. So now we have a preliminary job description for a community leader.

Does it seem overwhelming? You don't have to know how to do all these things when you start. You have the rest of your life to master them. You don't have to be a perfect human being to be a community leader, either. That's good, since none of us are. But it might be helpful for you to know a few of the characteristics that successful community leaders often have:. Those are a few qualities of successful leaders. What are other leadership characteristics that you think are important?

All leaders need support from others to help them keep growing and get through the fears and discouragement they face. Also, leaders sometimes feel isolated in their jobs; they need others to listen to their thinking, and they need to listen to others' ideas. You can develop relationships with people for sharing your leadership successes, discouragement, and for processing the pile of information you are exposed to in your leadership role.

You can set up a regular time where you and another person or group of people can talk about being a leader. This process can be informal and unstructured. However, sometimes a little structure in a leadership group can be helpful. All humans that live in the modern age get stressed out now and then. And the demands of leadership can pile on even more stress. Leaders have to figure out how to handle emotions due to the stress of their jobs. You might feel crabby after a day of dealing with a myriad of problems. In fact, the more challenges you take on as a leader, the more emotional fallout you may experience, and it isn't surprising that it becomes harder to think straight.

Under stress, we may all become frozen or confused in our fears, worries, and discouragement. When that happens it is easy to react without thinking. Sometimes our feelings cause us to avoid taking actions when actions are called for. Sometimes our fears drive us to act in ways that are unworkable. It is not unusual for people in leadership positions to deal with built-up emotions by hurting themselves.

We all are familiar with people who take drugs or alcohol, overeat, smoke, get sick, etc. Most of us have struggled with these issues ourselves. But you are too important to let bad feelings damage you. Your own well-being is at least as important as the causes and people you are fighting for. Don't wait until you are in trouble before you deal with your emotions.

So, what do you do when stresses build-up? One thing you can do is unload them. Find someone you can talk to about what is going on. Tell someone what gets hard for you. If you get some good attention, then you can cast off some of the weight that hangs on you. You may feel renewed in your commitment and more able to think afresh about those difficult problems. So does crying and laughing.

A good cry or hearty laugh with a coworker or friend can clear a space in your brain to sort out some of those knotty problems. And chances are, if you can tell someone else what is going on for you, they will be more than happy to come to you when they need some help. In fact, when you ask for help you are modeling effective leadership.

Setting up listening exchanges may feel awkward and embarrassing at first. Listening well to what people have to say is different from everyday conversation. The exercise above will take some practice, but it will definitely help you to think more clearly and feel more positive about the work you are doing.

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4. 2. Look for leaders who develop trust quickly..

It's just possible that community leadership is a job that is made for you. Remember, you are the one, and the only one, who can decide what kind of responsibility you would like to take to make sure things go well in your corner of the world. Go ahead and dare to take hold of your dreams and do the work that is meaningful to you. You have the ability to make significant changes in the lives of the people with whom you work, live, and play.

Don't deny the universe your unique contribution. The community leadership project curriculum. A guide for grassroots leaders. Girls and young women leading the way: Free Spirit Publishing, Inc. Skip to main content. Chapter 14 Sections Section 1. Developing and Communicating a Vision Section 3.