Developing leadership skills is an important part of growing up. Maybe you want to make a difference in your school by petitioning for healthier cafeteria lunches or challenge your community to recycle more. Either way, you'll need to have leadership skills to make it happen, and Kidzworld can help!
Confidence
- The first step to leadership is confidence. This is problematic for a lot of people; every single one of us feels insecure sometimes.
- If you don't feel confident about yourself or the cause you are interested in, others will not follow your lead, so it's important that you work on your view of yourself.
- If you have trouble feeling confident, try starting small. Set yourself a goal that you know you can achieve, and then follow through. Once you have been successful at a few of your goals, you will start feeling more confident in yourself and your abilities.
- Another way to boost your confidence is to learn about what you're interested in. For example, if you want to develop leadership skills so that you can enlist your friends and family in a littler clean up project, study the affect that litter has on the environment. Knowing that you're an expert will help you feel more in charge.
Teamwork
- It may feel like a leader stands alone, but actually one of the most vital keys to being a good leader is to know how to work with a team. You can't get anything done without the help of others.
- Teamwork can be hard for some people. A lot of us like to work alone and feel we are more effective by ourselves. However, if you give teamwork a chance, you might be surprised at how helpful other peoples' ideas can be.
- To practice working as a team, there are a few things you could try. You could sign up to work on a group project in class, join an athletic team, or become part of an interest-based club, like a film club or book club.
Find Your Passion
- You will be the best leader you can be when you are working on something that is really important to you. There's no need to try to be the band leader when you don't even like playing the drums; find something that really matters to you.
- When you feel passionate about something, and you share that passion with others, it really does rub off on them. Your enthusiasm for a project will inspire others to follow suit. Don't be afraid to show others how excited you are about something.
Remember, the real key to developing your leadership skills is to stay determined and not give up. Sometimes, things won't work out how you want or envision, and that's okay. Just keep trying to reach your goals!
Have Your Say!
How do you feel about being a leader in your school or community? Share some of your experiences with our Kidzworld readers!