Building Leadership Skills in Adolescents

Education plays a very important role in the course of one's behavior. Not only education in formal schools, but also education in soft skill such as leadership skills. Leadership skills can be instilled through character education.

So, who needs to get education to build leadership skills? Anyone need. But most importantly, this leadership education must be started from children and teenagers. Adolescents are the most important figure to instill leadership.

The young generation needs to get direction from all parties in order to be able to have a strong self-filter to filter the various information received. Basically, building leadership skills in adolescents do not just produce intelligent humans, but also good human beings.

According to researcher Daniel Goldman, intelligence quotient or IQ only contributes 20 percent for the success of one's life. While character education such as leadership character is important in achieving that success. That is why, among the youth, leadership becomes something important to develop.

Leadership is an abstract, but the results are real, sometimes leadership leads to art, but often also related to science. The Leader is a role in a particular system. The leader is also essentially a person who has a role to influence others in his work with the use of power.

Leadership is basically related to the skills, abilities, and levels of influence one has. Therefore, leadership can be owned by non-leaders. Leadership skills must be studied while we were small or adolescent. This is the best time to learn how we behave properly as a leader when we are in a power.

Understanding leadership

The definition of leadership can be seen from several experts, as follows:
• G.R. Terry Leadership is an activity to influence people to be able to cooperate and work voluntarily to achieve goals.
• Haword W. Hoyt, Leadership is the art of influencing human behavior, the ability to guide people.
• Hebert A. Simon. The leader is a person who can unite in the pursuit of goals.

Building leadership skills in adolescents

Adolescents are human beings who experience a transitional period and experience a very rapid development. The age range is between eleven to twenty years or teenagers. Thus, teen leadership is the way of leading by a teenager.

In building leadership, we must see what factors a leader must possess. Then, what should a leader have?

1. Influence
2. Charisma. Charisma can be built with character, morals and ethics
3. Power
4. Authority

Read also: Bill Gates and Leadership Styles

With these factors, one can appear to be an ideal leader. An ideal leader must also be able to grow elements of leadership within him. The elements of leadership are:

1. There are people who influence (Leader)
2. There are people affected (Subordinate)
3. Influence given in the form of direction to achieve certain goals.

For a teenager, these leadership factors must be maximally grown. Building leadership skills in adolescents can help teens to gain a better future. After all, having a leadership soul is important in today's era.

Increasing competition in various fields requires every individual to develop his character to the maximum, one of them by building the character of the ideal leader. The question is, what is the character of a teenager who has a leadership soul?
• Set yourself in any situation
• Humble
• Do what you say
• Lead by heart
• Have a strong will
• Must always be confident in any situation
• Not easily surrendered by circumstances
• Enhance motivation for success
• A willingness to thrive
• Having problems does not mean losing a smile and feeling heavy
• Respect others as you respect yourself

The principle of teen leadership

The principle of leadership in adolescent will support us to understand that how building leadership skills in adolescents is not impossible. We all have the opportunity to develop ourselves and become ideal leaders.

Sr. Monika, HK revealed that there are ten principles to develop the leadership of teenagers, among others:
• Every teenager is a born leader
• Every teenager has the attitude of a leader
• Every teenager is called to carry out the task
• Every adolescent has a role, influence and develop in the middle of each other
• Each adolescent has the ability to communicate as a leader
• Every adolescent has the ability to self-organize
• Every teenager can emulate a leadership model of a particular character
• Every teenager is a leader who wants to learn
• Every teenager is a leader who wants to develop creativity
• Every teenager is an unyielding leader

Next, with reference to the character of youth leaders and existing leadership principles, we can take practical steps for building leadership skills in adolescent. So, are you ready to be an ideal leader with great character?