Leadership—Week 9

Lesson Overview:

Students will explore qualities of leaders, imagine themselves as leaders, assume leadership role in health promotion challenges, as well as build group cohesion and trust

 

Lesson Objectives:

  1. To Lead Oneself handout
  2. Characteristics of leaders
  3. Vision of Hope Activity

 

 

Lesson Activities:

  1. Leadership Style Discussion
  2. Vision of Hope Activity
  3. Thanks for the Compliment team activity
  4. Journal

 

 

Lesson Plan:

A. Introduction and leadership style discussion:  15 minutes

B. Vision of Hope Activity                                            20 minutes

C. Thanks for the Compliment:                                  10minutes

D. Journal                                                                   10 minutes

                                                                                    55 minutes total


 

 

“At some point in life, everyone wants to lead and everyone wants to be heard.” 

 

“Let’s consider the differences between someone who knows he or she is a leader, and pays attention to how he or she leads, and someone who does not know he or she is a leader, and does not pay attention to how he or she leads. What could happen?”

 

Hand out qualities of good leaders list, To Lead Oneself and read directions aloud.

 

Teams:

  1. Read To Lead Oneself aloud and think about what it takes to be a good leader.

 

  1. Review the qualities of good leaders.  Then write down some of your own descriptions of good leaders.  Think outside the box!  Friends, family members, acquaintances, and even trouble-makers can be leaders!

 

  1. As a team, think about your relationships.  In which relationships are you showing good leadership potential?  What elements from To Lead Oneself should you add to this relationship?

 

 


To Lead Oneself
  1. Understanding of Self: You need opportunities where you can comfortably be yourself in order to hone your true leadership skills.  By knowing how you react to different situations, you can apply that knowledge to new situations, and be better prepared to deal with unknown situations. 

 

  1. Communicating:  From what is spoken to unspoken body language, you need practice in communicating and expressing your ideas.  You need to be listened to and treated as equal partners in leadership.

 

  1. Getting along with others:  As you mature, you begin to realize that getting along with others does not equate to being friends.  You need opportunities to reach agreements and support others.

 

  1. Learning:  As a leader, you must always be open to new learning.  Leadership cannot occur in a closed environment (def. of closed environment).  Learning needs to take place in every leadership experience.

 

  1. Making Decisions:  You need opportunities to make unique decisions that directly impact your life.  You need adults and other resources so you can seek out the best possible solutions to difficult decisions.

 

  1. Managing:  Learning to manage difficult decisions, situations, and people are all essential to being a good leader.  You need to learn the skills to process past experiences and apply them to new ones in order to manage the daily events in your life.

 

  1. Working with people:  You can’t be a leader if you have no one to lead, and knowing how to work with others is essential to being a good leader.

 

  

 

http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/2031/11444.pdf


 

Journal a Vision of Hope

 

Everywhere we go we receive messages about perfection, absolutism, beauty, and weight.  The perfect person must be attractive, smell good, and wear all the right brands of clothing.

 

What if there was a way to convince ourselves, at the cusp of adulthood, that there is potential goodness in every social interaction, every experience has a value unrecognized by businesses and advertisers who solely want to make money off of us, and that we are the Team-Up for Fitness who make this situation negative or positive?  

 

The first step is for us to look for the good in others, the way we long to be seen by our teachers, parents, and other authority figures and role models in our lives. 

 

And then, what if we could look at others the way we long to be looked at?  Look for the goodness, for the differences, for the uniqueness in all suggestions and styles.  In order for us to look at others this way, we must at least imagine being seen this way. 

 

This vision is an image by which we can see ourselves infused with all our hopes, positive characteristics, and goals.  If we do not focus on the negative, and create an image of ourselves, what would we like to see? 

 

Write an essay or create an image (use any color, media, or style) about yourself that goes beyond the superficial.  When you bring this colorful vision back to class, read or present what you have created with your other team-members.  These are the aspects of ourselves we should interact with in our teams.

 

 

 

* Students should make a poster comparing what society believes is beautiful, acceptable, and correct to what they want to believe is beautiful, acceptable, and correct. Remind students that often what society views as beautiful, is not always beautiful.*

 

 

 

Quote for the day: “What is right is not always popular, and What is popular is not always right”

 


 

Thanks for the Compliment!

Write your name on the top of a sheet of paper.  Have a team-members tape the paper to your back.  Take turns writing compliments or positive remarks on each other’s papers.  When everyone has written something positive about one another, sit down and exchange papers, without looking at your list.  Read one positive remark off each team-member’s list aloud. (Rachel at Our House: http://www.youthwork.com/activitiesactiv.html)


 

 

Journal Activity

 

1.                  Who do you feel has been the best leader of our country and the world?  Why have they been effective leaders?

 

2.                  Write down leadership qualities you possess.

 

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