Rochelle

Liner

Table of Contents Envision Your Future: Set Goals Dream Big Stay focused, even when it gets hard Success happens step-by-step Build on your strengths, talents, and interests Work your dream; work your plan

Stay in School Learn to earn; stay in school Make choices that help you succeed in school If you're struggling, seek help Be prepared: study hard, read, think

It's Never Too Late to Get Back on Track Get back in the education game Everyone gets off track sometimes; getting back on is what matters Get help if you need it Your future begins with today's choices

Seek Positive Role Models/Mentors Look to positive people who have your back Learn from those who have been there Positive role models are everywhere and anywhere Follow people who encourage and inspire you

Table of Contents Care for Others Notice. Care. Act.

Think and Act Beyond Yourself Noticing and caring for others begins with you We're all in this together Your actions impact others The good you do comes back to you

Caring for Others Begins at Home Be reliable, respectful and responsible Look for ways to help out at home Build on your family's strengths Family relationships need attention and care to grow

Be a Good Friend Be open, honest, and real A good friend can make a BIG difference Be someone your friends can trust and rely on Good friends respect each other's differences Get help for your friends when they need it

Contribute to our Community Your community needs you Safe and clean neighborhoods are everyone's responsibility Small actions can make a big difference Settle problems without hurting one

Table of Contents Promote Physical, and Mental Well-Being Be Healthy! Keep Mind and Body Strong Your mind and body re connected Take care of yourself first Work your body, build your mind Stress affects your health

Your Body is Amazing: Take Care of It Healthy eating feeds the whole person Being active and exercising keeps the body strong Be on the safe side: respect yourself, protect yourself Exercise reduces stress

Mental and Emotional Health Are Important Use positive coping strategies to deal with stress Understand what you're feeling Express your feelings in a positive way Get help and support when you need it

Seek Inner Peace Take time for refection Find and follow your purpose Live your values Promoting peace brings inner peace

Urban Teenz is a partnership between business and higher education that is preparing the next generation of entrepreneurs and business leaders to create a better world for everyone.

Urban Teenz’s global network consists of business executives, university students and academic leaders.High school and college students form teams that serve their communities by developing projects that take what they are learning in their classrooms about business and use it to solve real world problems for real people. Business executives support the program through corporate donations, personal contributions and the gift of their time. 

Urban Teenz Text Book concentrates on five areas: career development, success skills, entrepreneurship, financial literacy and business ethics. The students are led by faculty who challenge them to develop projects that specifically meet the unique needs oftheir communities. Their efforts help aspiring entrepreneurs, struggling business owners, low-income families and children experience success. Urban Teenz teams present the results of their community projects annually at regional, national and international competitions. Business executives judge the competitions and select the winners based on which teams they believe were most effective at educating others through their projects. Through Urban Teenz, high school and university students improve their communities and experience profound personal growth. As these youngpeople assume leadership roles of significance and influence, they will be the key to leading more sustainable enterprises, building stronger communities and creating a world with greater opportunity for all of us.

Life groups are all about relationship – about doing life together. They’re about developing trust and accountability, and they’re about having a safe place to talk and ask questions. They’re about developinglife skills like encouragement, serving and praying for one another. And they’re about engaging with and learning.

Youth development is a process which prepares young people to meet the challenges of adolescence and adulthood through a coordinated, progressive series of activities and experiences which help them to become socially, morally, emotionally, physically, and cognitively competent

Chapter 1 - Introduction

(1) “The ability to guide or direct others on a course of action, influence the opinion and behavior of other people, and show the way by going in advance” (Wehmeyer, Agran, & Hughes, 1998);

(2) “the ability to analyze one's own strengths and weaknesses, set personal and vocational goals, and have the self-esteem to carry them out. It includes the ability to identify community resources and use them, not only to live independently, but also to establish support networks to participate in community life and to effect positive social change.”

Youth leadership is

Increased self esteem, positive peer relations, and sense of personal control

Better development of leadership, communication, and decision-making skills

Increased dependability and job responsibility

Greater communication in the family

Fewer psychosocial problems (i.e., loneliness, shyness)

Youth Development Program Outcomes

Assists young people to become self-sufficient and productive members of society

Assists in the development of advocacy (self-determination) skills

Fosters making informed choices

Experiences successExposes youth to role

models and leaders

Why is Leadership Programming Important to Youth

The range of youth development outcomes can be organized into five developmental areas:

WorkingLearning ThrivingConnectingLeading

Youth Development Programming Areas

The development of positive occupational and career attitudes, skills and behaviors through activities that offer the chance to practice technical and “soft skills” needed to maintain employment

Some activities supporting Working:Job shadowingInternshipsEntrepreneurship

Working

Visiting education and/or training programs

Completing a mock job-search and interview process

Writing a resumeInterviewing

representatives from specific industries

Attending workplace behavior workshops

Developing a forum for networking

Visiting industry sitesSmall business project

Professional Development Task

The development of positive basic and applied academic attitudes, skills, and behavior

To develop higher aptitude for academic skill, and the ability to approach endeavors with a strategy to achieve

Some activities supporting Learning:Formal and informal skills

assessmentIdentification of learning

styles and difficulties

Learning

Peer tutoring activitiesAccess to testing preparation

classesGroup problem-solving

activitiesDevelop a formal learning

planAccountability for gradesShowcase of work

highlighting a learning experience

Service-learning projects

Activities that support learning

The development of attitudes, skills and behaviors demonstrated by maintaining optimal physical and emotional well-being

Some activities supporting Thriving:Peer workshops on

nutrition and hygieneCommunity resource

mappingConflict management skill-

building

Thriving

Health-related workshopsRole-playing activitiesPersonal and peer counselingMeal planning/preparation

activitiesSocial activities requiring

communicationDirectory of community

resources

Activities That Support Thriving

The development of positive skills, attitudes, and behaviors around civic/public involvement and personal goal setting

Some activities supporting Leading:Registering to voteVolunteeringPeer mediation activitiesYouth advisory committees

Leading

Developing a personal planCreating a map of local youth

resourcesParticipating in town meetingsPlanning a program activityParticipating in a local issue

debateParticipating in a letter

writing campaignMeeting with local officials

Activities for Leading

Teaching Youth to Identify Essential Qualities of a Leader

(Adapted from  Leadership 101: Developing Leadership Skills for Resilient Youth, Facilitator’s Guide by Mariam MacGregor, Youthleadership.com, 2000. Used with permission from Mariam MacGregor & Youth Leadership Development Workbook, New Light Leadership Coalition, 2001-2003. Used with permission. )

 

What character traits are essential to leadership?  The following is a "starter list" of leadership character qualities/skills that youth can add to as they learn more about leadership. After this list you’ll find some suggested activities to do with youth to help them wrestle with this topic.

Leadership Qualities and Skills

Courage-The mindset that enables a person to face difficulty.   Courage is not the absence of fear but rather the willingness to do something in spite of fear.

Visionary-The ability to see the bigger picture in a situation or organization, and dream of possibilities that would be more beneficial. A visionary is one who imagines possibilities.

Change Agent-The ability to not only move people and things in a new direction, but also to accept, handle and thrive in the midst of change.  A change agent is one who can create a sense of urgency for a new direction, and guide a group down the path of that new direction.

Decisive-Having the willingness and ability to make a decision, judgment call or resolution.  Leaders would often rather make the wrong decision than no decision at all.

Perseverance-The ability to remain steady in a course of action; having tenacity and endurance despite hardship or discouragement.

Risk Taking-The courage to begin a course of action or make a decision even though failure is a possibility.  Risk takers realize that no one succeeds at every turn, and sometimes more can be learned from failure than success.

Creativity-The ability to use originality, innovation and imagination to solve problems or dream dreams.  A creative leader thinks "outside the box."

Confidence-The steady  belief or trust in yourself and your abilities.  The opposite of confidence is low self esteem or feeling worthless.

Self-Discipline-The ability to control your actions and order your behavior appropriately.

Honesty-Having truthfulness and integrity in your actions and dealings with others. 

Sense of Humor-The ability to see the lighter side of a situation or circumstance.  Key to having a sense of humor is having the ability to not take yourself too seriously.  Leaders can laugh at themselves.

Suggested activities:

(1) Have youth identify one person, preferably someone who is well known to the group, who exhibits each character quality, and discuss in a group setting why they think each person listed exhibits that particular quality.

(2) Have the youth rank which characteristics from the list they think are most important in a leader, and why.

(3) Have the youth identify which attributes they feel they already possess, and which ones they need to develop more strongly.  Discuss possible ways to develop each attribute.

Essential Qualities of a Leader

Helps for Teaching Youth Effective Listening and Communication Skills

(Adapted from Leadership 101: Developing Leadership Skills for Resilient Youth, Facilitator’s Guide by Mariam MacGregor, Youthleadership.com, 2000. Used with permission.)

Tips for Listening Actively

Use basic "probing" responses such as: “How so?”  “In what way?”  “Why?” or “Tell me more…”Paraphrase the speaker's message and repeat it back to him or her.Verbally acknowledge that you understand the other person's thoughts and feelings.Use body posture, eye contact and other non-verbal communication techniques that send the message that you are engaging with what the speaker is saying.

"Road Blocks" to Active Listening

Rehearsing: spending your mental energy on preparing what you will say in response

Judging:  "writing off" a person as stupid or incompetent or uninformed and therefore not paying close attention to what her or she is saying

Identifying: relating everything the person says back to yourself so that the conversation becomes focused around you

Advising: trying to solve a problem or give advice without finishing listening to what the other person is saying

Sparring: being too quick to disagree or create an argument with the speaker

Derailing: constantly changing the topic of conversation

Dreaming:  "checking out" or daydreaming rather than focusing on what the speaker is saying

Smoothing Over: being so concerned that you are pleasant, agreeable and well-liked that you don't really engage with what the person is saying

Chapter 2 - Communications

Non-verbal communication can be more powerful than verbal communication. It can contradict or undermine verbal communication.  You can tell how well someone is receiving your message by watching for non-verbal "signals."  It is important to realize that non-verbal communication is sometimes strongly connected to culture and gender, and that the same "signal" can carry different meanings when coming from different people.  When you are unsure of what someone is communicating, it is always best to ask for clarification.

Five parts to non-verbal communication There are five main "channels" for non-verbal communication--

posture/stance, gestures, eye contact, facial expressions, and vocal qualities.  The following are a few examples of types of communication in each of the categories:

Posture: slouching can suggest boredom, leaning forward can suggest interest and openness, etc.

Gestures:  clenched fists suggest anger, fidgety hands can suggest nervousness

Eye Contact: avoiding eye contact can suggest lack of self-confidence, looking downward suggests shame, direct eye contact suggests confidence

Facial Expressions: aside from the obvious--smiles, frowns, etc.--facial expressions can hide the true intention of the message

Vocal Qualities: raising the volume of your voice can suggest anger, mumbling can suggest lack of self-confidence, speaking overly slowly and deliberately can communicate that you think the other person doesn't understand you

Non-Verbal Communication

Be clear on what you want as an outcome, but be flexible — you might create an even better one. “Negotiation” means a give and take. Lay out your specific interest clearly, briefly and positively, then listen completely and politely to the response. Be willing to consider a counter-proposal on its merits.

Put things positively. Talk specifically about what you want, not about the other person’sbehavior or presumed intent. Make sure your interests are understood. Saying

there issomething you’d like to discuss changing is far more productive than just saying you

don’t likesomething.

Being a Skilled Negotiator Without exception, family negotiations are the hardest in the world, including arms-control talks and labor negotiations. That is because in family negotiations (1) everyone involved has little or no training in mediation or negotiation, (2) the issues “on the table” are wrapped up in personal importance and are usually emotionally loaded, and (3) you don’t have attorneys and experts whispering advice in your ear. And the rules are different — some of the more hard-line methods can’t be used if you are to achieve positive outcomes. Following are four steps that can help you develop a key element in strong relationships — being a skilled negotiator: In preparing to negotiate, consider the other person’s interests and

proposals. This is something to which all professional negotiators pay close attention. It provides

you with a perspective and understanding that may affect how you approach the other

person. Remind yourself in advance that you are negotiating with people whom you care about and who care for you. You should be seeking “win-win” outcomes

Skilled Negotiator

"Leadership Skills Rarely Come Naturally"Leadership Skills Quote

"Nothing gives one person so much advantage over another as to remain cool and unruffled under all circumstances."

Thomas Jefferson Suggested Reading: Fostering Leadership Skills in Ministry: A Parish Handbook 

by Jean Marie Hiesberger Manager's Pocket Guide to Leadership Skills 

by Stalk Peter Leadership Skills for Project Managers 

by Jeffrey K. Pinto, Jeffrey W. Trailer Group Leadership Skills: Carolyn Chambers Clark (Springer Series on the

Teaching of Nursing) by Carolyn Chambers Clark

Visionary Leadership Skills: Creating a World to Which People Want to Belong by Robert Dilts, Robert B. Dilts

Leadership Through People Skills by R. E. Lefton

Leadership: Research Findings, Practice, and Skills by Andrew J. Dubrin

Leadership : Theory, Application, Skill Development by Robert N. Lussier, Christopher F. Achua

Leadership 101 : Developing Your Leadership Skills (Student Workbook) by Mariam G. MacGregor

Patton's One-Minute Messages : Tactical Leadership Skills of Business Managers by CHARLES PROVINCE

Leadership 101: Developing Leadership Skills for Resilient Youth Facilitator's Guide by Mariam G. MacGregor, Mariam MacGregor

Interpersonal Skills for Leadership (2nd Edition) by Susan M. Fritz

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