Developing Young Leaders

Image by Wesley Fryer via Flickr

I have always had a passion for developing young leaders. They have energy. They have passion. If nothing else - they are our future. Yet, it is astonishing to me the disconnects between the world filled with grown-up leaders, and the generation that will one day take-over the reigns of leadership.

I am currently working on a few projects, related to youth leadership organizations. They do a great job in their own right, inspiring, teaching and motivating youth. Part of my job has been the link some of the tools we traditionally use for business executives and make them applicable and relevant for young people. What has astonished me along the way is the lack of information, re: articles, books, etc., on how to best develop young leaders. If you search under amazon for 'developing leaders and youth' most of the results that come back are actually related to 'youth ministry (church) leaders'. And, mind you, a few authors do this very well, borrowing typically business lingo, like 'alignment' or 'focus'. One book was even titled, 'Youth Ministry Management Tools'. They seamlessly blend these themes with those of 'purpose,' 'passion,' and 'relationships/community'. Kudos to churches for being more focused on this issue of developing leaders within their own ministries than the mainstream! True, there have been some great books written for the adult audience - like Bowling Alone byRobert Putnam, which brilliantly discusses the need for community. But, it seems to me that there is a great opportunity to do two things:

First, whether it's a youth ministry at a church or just a youth leadership organization - there are some great lessons that we in the adult world can learn. We can learn about their passion, about their desire to connect and form relationships (whether with each other or God). In the corporate world, we like to separate 'work' from 'pleasure' - as if work should be the mundane (maybe, even uncomfortable) existence we tolerate simply for a paycheck at the end of the week. Why do we settle? Are there not the same desires throughout life for passion or community? Are only the young allowed to enjoy both and are we so much the better for becoming both so mature as well as so constrained in our adulthood?

Second, it's a shame that you can't find more literature on developing young leaders. Where are the studies on what works in terms of developing their strengths/passions and successfully applying them to a career path? We have plenty of books on helping them pick a college, but what about the preceding step of developing a greater sense of self-awareness? Why do we wait until an executive is 20 years into his career, completely burned out and disillusioned, and then we step in with tools that help him understand himself and how he can better align his strengths/weaknesses with the right occupation. Why do we wait? Where are the books on developing a new generation of leaders? Do we think that the young will simply figure this out on their own? It's no wonder that they so often think we don't care....do we?

So, I am very excited about these projects. In part, I am thrilled because I love working with young people (even if it does make realize how much has changed since I was in high school). More importantly, I feel that there is a great need here. Sure, there are internships programs and collaborations between universities and businesses a plenty. But, I'm talking about something more fundamental here - this is not about businesses gleaning the best and brightest for themselves. This is about developing tools that can help young people ensure that they're on the right path. I know this is not an exact science and I have no allusions that even if given the tools that all teens are going to magically turn into great leaders. I do believe, though, that we can do better and that we'll ALL benefit - from the teens themselves to the businesses that eventually hire them. And, while we're trying to teach them a thing or two about leadership...maybe we can also take a moment to learn from them.