studentlinc

Just Thinking

Random thought that I might expand on. Don't know if this is necessarily true of just leaders, but it is definitely true for leaders...

"A leader...
    ...learns from yesterday
    ...lives in the opportunities of today
    ...looks toward the future"

What do you think?

Pondering The Potential Of A Student Leadership Position

Are you thinking about running for or applying for a student leadership position?

I say...GO FOR IT!

Over the next few weeks, all the slots will begin to fill up with those students who will work hard to make next year - the best year ever! You should give it a shot. You'll never know unless you try.

Here's some things to consider when anticipating a run for a student leader position:

• What makes you the best candidate?
  C'mon...brag on yourself a little here. How are you unique? What sets you apart from the rest of the crowd? I know you've got something, you just need to tap into what it is.
• What is your vision for next year and for the position?
  If you want everything to stay just the way it is then you might not be "leadership" material. But if you can dream up a better future and some of the steps that you and others can take to get there?!...well...you're in business. In fact, one of the things that will set you apart from the other candidates is the type of vision you have. Dream big, but be realistic.
• Do you have the time for this?
  Balance is important. If you are already involved in a lot of things you'll need to weigh the amount of time you can commit to this. You need to consider every opportunity in light of every previous commitment you've made. Don't back yourself into a corner.
• Do you have the support of your peers?
  This is especially important if you're entering into a student election. While everyone works hard not to make those things a popularity contest, it is important to have some people in your corner. Poll your friends and tell them what you're up to. They'll help you know where your support lies and hopefully help you get more of it.
• Have you talked to the person who currently holds the position you're interested in?
  Nobody knows the position better than someone who has done it for a year. Make an appointment with that person and find out all you can. This will also help you know where your unique skills can fit in with the unique needs of the position. Remember, you want to meet with this person to LEARN everything you can. Don't spend the time trying to tell the person all the ways you would change the position. That would make your meeting less than productive.
• Be excellent in the election or selection process.
  You want to be prepared for each hurdle you have to jump over. Be on time in signing up. Come prepared to interviews. If you're giving a speech (oh...there's so much to share here) - you need to give a confident, simply spoken story of why you're the best candidate. Don't make mistakes during this process because of procrastination, ignorance, or laziness. Bring your "A" game throughout the entire time.
• Play nice with the other candidates.
  Don't burn any bridges in this process. You never know if you're going to be working with these people in some other capacity. You may even want their help if you win...and vice-versa. Be respectful and focus on what's great about you rather than what you perceive to be wrong with them.
• Be a student leader for the right reasons.
  Anything short of doing this to serve your fellow students and make your school or organization a better place is a questionable motive. If you want to be in a student leadership position because you want to be popular, or you want some perks, or you want something to put on a resume...you probably won't make a very good student leader.

If you follow these guidelines, you'll be further ahead than most of the other students vying for these student leadership spots. If you've got more to add to the list, let's hear about it in the comments below.

Developing Student Leaders: Five Core Skills Every Student Leader Needs

The study of leadership can include such a wide range of things. When my student leaders approach me at the beginning of their student leadership year, they will often ask what they need to focus on. They want to know what to work on in order to be an effective student leader.

As a result of those conversations, I've narrowed the list down to five core leadership skills that I believe are accessible to student leaders. I call them The Student Leadership Backpack (SLB). 

The SLB contains the tools that a student leader will need to be successful throughout a student leadership year. I have chosen these because they can be learned and developed. While this is my own subjective list, it has proven itself over and over again as the most valuable of leadership traits for those involved in student leadership opportunities.

1. Lead Yourself First - The Student Leader's Hardest Task
Student Leaders start with themselves. Character, self-discipline, and personal organization skills determine what kind of leader a person will be. Student Leaders must serve as an example to those who put their trust and loyalty in them. Student Leadership starts off as an inside job.

2. Develop Your Influence With Others - The Student Leader's Biggest Asset
Influence allows a student leader to lead. A student leader knows how to move people in a certain direction through mission, vision, and values.

3. Make A Difference Mindset - The Student Leader's Noblest Cause
The student leader understands that there is a moment between a person's need and their ideal future and helps them achieve that. A student leader knows that participating in this moment is the opportunity to be the difference that people are looking for.

4. Clear Communication - The Student Leader's Strongest Skill
The ability to communicate is often overlooked in student leadership. But clear communication is what motivates and moves people. A student leader must be able to keep people informed and focused on what's most important for the organization. A successful student leader will provide clarity and not confusion.

5. Get Others Involved - The Student Leader's Highest Investment
By definition, a student leader is one who has people following him or her. If all a student does is accomplish tasks, he or she is a student worker. But if a student focuses on getting others involved and spends time equipping them, he or she is a student leader.

I have incorporated each of these core leadership skills into the Core Leadership Training Modules. That's because I wanted to be intentionally training my student leaders in each of these five areas. How are you intentionally training your student leaders?
_______________________________________________________________

Do you need to train your student leaders but it's usually hit or miss?
You can download practical and easy to use/adapt student leadership lessons right now and be ready to go for tonight's meeting. Whether you have 10 minutes or an hour, each training module will make you look like you studied all week.

What Are You Going To Do When You're Exposed?

There's less than 10 days before the big event. No publicity has been put up. No planning has taken place. There's been some ideas thrown around. There's been assurances up to this point that everything is fine.

But everything is not fine.

A student leader is called in and asked point blank: Are we ready to go here?

The answer: No...not really.

Now this student leader is at a crossroads. She has just been exposed (for this article, the student leader in question will be a she...it could just as easily be a he). She has a choice to make in the direction she will now move - toward excellence or excuses.

The immediate temptation that a student leader will face when she is found out is toward excuses.

But I have just had so much homework...
I assigned this to someone else and they haven't come through...
I called and left a message but no one got back to me...
It's not my fault...

Every one of those statements may be TRUE...but in the context of unfulfilled responsibilities...they ring hollow and only sound like excuses.

There may even be GOOD reasons why things haven't moved forward like the student leader would have liked. But placing blame on circumstances or other people keeps a student leader from accepting the one thing that every student leader must accept...

PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY

A student leader will move toward excellence when she looks at a failing situation and responds with something like...

I dropped the ball. I will get right on it...
I am sorry that I completely missed that. It's my own fault...
I will find a way to make that happen today...

With statements like that, people are more willing to move past the mistake and get back to work. When a student leader takes personal responsibility and works to make things right, it makes things better.

We are often confronted with people and circumstances that become obstacles to getting things done. A student leader will find ways to move forward in the midst of those obstacles. That's why it's called leadership. If a student leader is tossed around by the obstacles she faces...then she's no longer leading.

Of course there will be times where a mistake occurs, where an appointment is missed, where preparation hasn't happened. Student leadership is a laboratory where young people are learning what it means to be a leader. It's what occurs in RESPONSE to those down times that will define the leader's direction toward excuses or excellence.

With excuses, I'm thinking of things like: blame, pride, continually making the same mistake, defensive, insensitive, dogmatic, and being a victim.

With excellence, I recognize it in things like: apologies, humility, learn from mistakes, flexibility, solving problems, intentional, and personal responsibility.

So I will repeat the question: What are you going to do when you're exposed?

Excuses or excellence...the choice is yours.
Photo Credit: Getty Images
___________________________________________________________________
Do you need to train your student leaders but it's usually hit or miss?
You can download practical and easy to use/adapt student leadership lessons right now and be ready to go for tonight's meeting. Whether you have 10 minutes or an hour, each training module will make you look like you studied all week.

Fred's Surefire Ways To Identify Potential Leaders

Fred Smith is an icon in the world of leadership development. I came across an article that he wrote for Leadership Journal and was recently published on the Building Small Groups website.

He lists 10 things one should look for when attempting to identify someone as a potential leader. That's a task that many would consider one half mystical, one half practical, and the other half lucky.

Here's his list with my thoughts added as it lends itself to student leadership selection.

1. Leadership in the past. As we get closer to the time of selecting and electing new student leaders for next year, it is helpful to look at a person's track record. This is especially true if someone is campaigning for a position with greater responsibility, like Student Body President. I realize that people can overcome their past, but a person's past is good indicator of the type of momentum they're building - positively or negatively.

2. The capacity to create or catch vision. A person with a vision is able to perceive a different future. And that's vital for leadership. If someone wants things to stay the same and can't see a better future, they will struggle in the role of leader.

3. A constructive spirit of discontent. Closely tied to #2, a person exhibits leadership potential when she can walk into a room and notice ways that things could be better. Perhaps an event has run it's course or there is a system in place that is clearly outdated. This person will voice her concerns and seek to make changes in a positive direction.

4. Practical ideas. It's one thing to be creative (and those people tend to be labeled as leaders), but it's another thing to have good, practical ideas. A person may have the ability to think outside of the box, but will that person be able to implement any of the ideas that he comes up with? Look for students who are realistic in the ideas they come up.

5. A willingness to take responsibility. Students may want to be in a leadership position because of the perks...but the real test is whether or not they're willing to pay the price. With leadership comes responsibility. Look to see if the student has taken on responsibility in the past. Watch for their reaction to failure and mistakes - did they take ownership or cast blame?

6. A completion factor. Look for students who can actually get something done. This will demonstrate perseverance and dedication. There are many who will be good at starting something. Some of them may even stay excited for a week or two into it. But successful leaders have the ability to finish what they start.

7. Mental toughness. I tend to look for people that are solid mentally. They have a clear view of what they're capable of and don't allow the distractions that come with leadership to derail them. I want people who are self-confident enough to handle criticism. Watch out for those who are overly emotional. While passion for something is a plus, moodiness and emotional outbursts will kill a team.

8. Peer respect. I want to know what their friends think about them. Peers are usually pretty good at identifying who is leadership material amongst themselves. If a student has earned the respect of her friends and doesn't burn bridges, then she will have an easier time leading them.

9. Family respect. In most situations involving student leadership selection, a student's family won't play a huge role. But it may be important to find out what kind of values a potential student leader was raised with. Also, listen to how a student talks about her family. If she is disrespectful to her parents, that may flow into her other relationships with authority figures.

10. A quality that makes people listen to them. Some students just naturally have the ear of their fellow students. People listen to them and respect what they have to say. If a student is well-received and has influence over his peers, he is already leading - whether he has a position or not.

Fred adds four more questions to consider:
What will this person do to be liked?
Does this person have a destructive weakness?
Can this person accept reasonable mistakes?
Can I provide this person the environment to succeed?
These four questions will give even greater insight into the emotional and mental well-being of a potential student leader.

One of the ways that this list can be helpful to you in the coming weeks is to place specific names of students next to each item on the list. These will be students who exhibit that characteristic. Or, if you have a certain student in mind, use the list as an evaluation tool. Mark each item with a 1-5 rating on how well the student does in that category.

Read the entire article here.
Hat tip: The Practice of Leadership
___________________________________________________________________

Do you need to train your student leaders but it's usually hit or miss?
You can download practical and easy to use/adapt student leadership lessons right now and be ready to go for tonight's meeting. Whether you have 10 minutes or an hour, each training module will make you look like you studied all week.