Leadership Can Be Learned

By Doug Franklin September 15, 2009

For many of us, we think that leadership is for the loudest, most outgoing person in the room… but that’s not leadership. Leadership is a set of principles that can be applied in any situation. Take, for example, planning for the fall retreat. If you use the leadership principle of strategic planning, then you will think through your goals for the event and plan each activity with the goal in mind. You will make sure that you have all the needed resources to make each activity run smoothly. When you have a plan and follow it, you look like a leader because you are leading. Your students can learn leadership the same way when you teach them leadership principles and give them experiences where they can apply those principles. Ultimately, they will act like leaders. Too often we think leadership is too tough to learn or it’s for other people, but it’s actually doable and easier than you think.