Student Leadership Program Myths

Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has

– Margaret Mead

Myth #1: Leadership is a natural ability

Some people think leadership is a skill you are born with and that leaders have a natural ability to make others follow them. Some call it charisma; others call it power or superior social skills. When they talk, others listen and do.

After working with thousands of students and worked with many inspiring leaders in education, art, social and business, I believe that leaders are not born; they are made and it is only seems natural but only because they developed those skills early in life.

You see, I consider myself a leader. I am a leader in my community, a leader in my profession but I wasn’t always a leader. Until I was 16 years old, I followed everyone that had a bit more power; everyone that I thought had some kind of an advantage or confidence. I followed and not always the right crowed.

Yes, it is true that some children have more skills naturally and they have a better start, but every child, with the right guidance, mindset, tools and knowledge can step up and be a leader. I highly recommend to start early!

Myth #2: It takes a long time to raise leaders

In the past 28 years, working with schools in Australia and across the world, I discovered that many people who think that leadership is a born ability also think it takes a long time to develop those leadership skills. Well, I disagree! Leadership is a mindset that can be shifted in a very short time and with that shift, a new leader is born.

Over the last 28 years, I have collected thousands of testimonials of dramatic change happening in a 2-day student leadership camp, a 1-day student leadership workshop, a half-day student leadership program and even in a single 1.5-hour student leadership session. Once the seed is planted, once the shift happens, the process starts and the student is ready to take the journey towards leadership.

“Having just started as a school Chaplain, I was keen for the opportunity to attend the Be Happy in Life : Kids Today Leaders Tomorrow Leadership Camp. I have attended a variety of training camps before but the intensiveness and richness of the learning for both the young people and the leaders has to be experienced to be believed.

The students and leaders that attended camp left with more confidence and knowledge of themselves and were given the tools to strengthen their relationships with others.

– Robyn Weare, School Chaplain, Upper Mt Gravatt State School, QLD

Leadership is a skill that student learn much like learning to ride a bike and if we give them safe opportunities to fall and get up again. If we use some training wheels and take them away slowly, every child will be able to ride the bike. Not all of them will be the fastest bike riders in the world, but all of them will be able to ride, and better than before.

Myth #3: Leadership skills fade over time

Very skeptic people, think that the change in the kids skills and abilities can be is easily reversed. I believe none of them have worked with student leaders or coached and trained school students over time to measure the change over time. We have emails and contacts from parents that are now 24 or 35 years old that the change that happened 20 years ago, when their kids attended one of the student leadership programs we run, was permanent! Once the mind is shifted towards personal power, confidence and clarity, it never changes back.

A child who feels the power coming from a position of confidence, no longer abuses his or her power. This child has the knowledge, resource and tool to rise up to the challenges of making a difference in the world around them and this knowledge cannot be reversed.

A child who can ride a bike, will always be someone who can ride a bike.

Man’s mind, once stretched by a new idea, never regains its original dimensions

– Oliver Wendell Holmes

With this in mind, I have developed the Kids Today, Leaders Tomorrow student leadership program. The main focus of the program is developing the emotional intelligence required by student leaders to lead others, contribute to community building by enhancing student leadership skills, inspiring and empowering student leaders to participate in a community service project and make a difference in the world around them.

In the student leadership program, we covers 25 attitudes of success, which are the most important leadership competencies out of 55 competencies of the student leaders. Run in a group environment, the activities are challenging, interactive and fun, directing the students towards awareness, confidence and strong social skills required for their leadership roles.

My confidence level originally was 80% (because of what we did last time in the leadership skills day) and is now 90%

– Felix (School Captain), Upper Mt Gravatt State School, Leadership Camp 2014 (Combination Program)

The Kids Today Leaders Tomorrow student leadership program is designed for school students from Year 4 to Year 12. It has been proven to benefit students, their families and their communities.

Your school can experience Kids Today, Leaders Tomorrow in three formats:

Leadership Skills Training Day – One full training day
Kids Leading Social Change – Two-day student leadership Camp
Combination Program – Leadership Skills day followed by Camp

Schools can benefit from running the programs for any of the following groups of students:

Student leadership team
Entire class or selected students from a grade level, e.g. all the girls in Year 6
Selected students needing to develop leadership abilities, e.g. sports captains
Representatives from several schools in a “sister-school” project

This program has been very successful and had an enormous positive impact on the student leaders and their entire school community. In the last 25 years, this program has been running around the world in different formats and has been successfully adopted by schools and youth organisations in Australia.