Youth Leadership Development: Key Research and Strategies

Introduction: Developing Effective Youth Leaders

Fleenor, Atwater, Sturm, and McKee (2014) focus on the need to develop "effective leaders and leadership behavior" that can positively impact organizations (p. 63). Their study provides a meta-analysis of the pertinent literature on the subject from the past quarter century, primarily published in The Leadership Quarterly, a journal of scholarly critique, theory, and research. The researchers note that theories of leadership are relatively new to academia and that approaches to the development of leaders are still being refined by scholars and professionals across the board. The study focuses primarily on issues — both intrapersonal and interpersonal — that relate to developmental leadership, utilizing "multi-source or 360-degree feedback responses" in order to deepen the current state of understanding regarding how leaders are trained and formed (Day et al., 2014, p. 63).

This study is particularly helpful because of its approach to the need for youth leadership training and development. The subject is identified three times within the study by Day et al. (2014), which indicates that it is not an issue that has gone unnoticed by other researchers in the past. Day et al. (2014) point to the study by Zacharatos et al. (2000), who approached the issue of youth leadership development from the standpoint of social learning theory to show how youths respond to the examples set for them among their peer groups and by the parental modeling they receive from their guardians. Day et al. (2014) stress the idea that social learning theory in this context is essential in seeing "how transformational leadership behaviors develop in youths" and, by extension, how youths can be assisted in the process of becoming leaders (p. 66).

The study by Zacharatos et al. (2000) is used by Day et al. (2014) as a means of identifying the nature of adolescent response to lessons in leadership. Through a process utilizing "(a) idealized influence, (b) inspirational motivation, (c) intellectual stimulation, and (d) individualized consideration," a method of transformational leadership can be effectively implemented among adolescents and youths in order to help them reach their potential as young leaders who can grow to become mature, capable adult leaders later in life as they assume positions of leadership in organizations.

Social Learning Theory and Transformational Leadership

Day et al. (2014) also cite the study by Reichard et al. (2011), which notes that one of the early predictors of leadership qualities in young adults is the personality traits they display. Extraverted youths and young adults were most associated with becoming leaders later in life, while "intelligence was only related to non-work leader emergence" — a finding that the researchers suggest places more significance on a young person's personality and his or her ability to reach out to others and capture their attention than on intellectual gifts or capacity (Day et al., 2014, p. 75–76).

Transformational leadership and its role in the development of leadership effectiveness and future management is discussed by Den, Deanne, and Belschak (2012), who note that transformational leadership is especially helpful in providing motivational signals to workers. Leaders who provide followers with individualized care and attention are more effective at helping followers cultivate and define their identity in a more positive light, which in turn can help both leader and follower to accomplish organizational objectives on a routine and consistent basis over long stretches of time. Identity is thus identified by Den, Deanne, and Belschak (2012) as a crucial aspect of development in the leader-follower paradigm — one that youths are especially susceptible to, as they are in the process of evaluating and forming their own sense of self-worth, values, ideas, skills, and assets.

Den, Deanne, and Belschak (2012) also highlight the need for effective social skills within leadership roles in order for communication between groups, team leaders, and team members to be most efficacious. Their study utilizes a combination of qualitative and quantitative data to arrive at its conclusions and is helpful in reinforcing the notion that leadership is developed as a result of a transformational process — much like metamorphosis — and is something that all leaders experience in terms of growth and development.

Emotional and Social Communication Skills in Leadership Emergence

Riggio, Riggio, Salinas, and Cole (2003) study the role that social and emotional communication skills play in the development of leadership qualities, leadership effectiveness, and overall leadership emergence in young persons. The researchers conducted three exercises in which the impact of social and emotional communication skills was measured via the analysis of self-report surveys, observational analysis, and Likert scale rating systems based on pre-formulated questions that analysts used to measure the effectiveness of the sample — such as: "Does the leader keep the group focused on the topic of discussion?"; "Does the leader make suggestions or contribute to the discussion?"; "Does the leader establish rapport with group members?"; "Does the leader encourage discussion?"; and "Does the leader make an effort to ensure group members' agreement on any final decisions?" (Riggio et al., 2003, p. 94). These questions were helpful in guiding the analysis process and for investigating the impact of social and emotional communication skills on the overall process of leadership, leadership emergence, and development.

The results of the study indicated that only a partial correlation existed between social and emotional communication skills and effective leadership. Leaders who demonstrated skill at communicating were rated by their groups as being most effective; however, in terms of effectiveness as measured in the performance of tasks, leaders with strong social skills did not appear to have any advantage over leaders who lacked obvious social and emotional communication skills. Thus the perception among the individuals rating the leaders was that communication is a sign of effective leadership, but the practical implication of being a strong communicator was not discernible in the overall effectiveness of the group's performance.

This study was helpful in highlighting how perception differs from reality when it comes to discerning what makes a leader impactful. Emotional Intelligence (EI) and Social Intelligence (SI) may be perceived as valuable by management and leadership theorists, but within the parameters of the study by Riggio et al. (2003) there was limited evidence of any actual correlation between EI/SI and leadership effectiveness. The study was limited in terms of gender imbalances, sample size, and participant make-up, which may help account for the results gathered. The study overall suggests that more research should be done in this area so as to better understand what actual impact EI/SI and communication skills have on leadership emergence, development, and effectiveness — especially as it concerns youths and young adults entering into leadership positions.

The study by Jacqui, Cairncross, and Lamont (2014) examines the impact of leadership on Generation Y (millennial) volunteers and how these subjects can be better developed using a strategy of effective and empathetic leadership. One of the approaches that appeared most impactful to the researchers was the leader's ability to identify the needs of young persons, ensure those needs are met, and then utilize their talents by directing their attention and energy toward the organizational goal. This study essentially showed that younger persons can be developed to take on leadership roles by ensuring — in a broadly Maslovian sense — that the requirements of youths are both acknowledged and fulfilled, so that youths can then progress toward addressing the project or organizational objective with their fullest capacity.

Jacqui et al. (2014) observe that youths are in need of validation, esteem, and social status, and that as long as these needs are met they can grow and develop into effective leaders and workers. The context of the study is the volunteer organization, so its application may be limited to that sector, but the findings suggest that youths — because of their level of maturation and lack of experience — are particularly susceptible to losses of confidence, feelings of insecurity, and confusion about where they truly belong within the overall organizational picture. Ensuring that young persons and young leaders striving to reach their potential are confident in themselves, their place, their abilities, and their stature can help develop them by instilling the self-worth they need to identify as a valuable and integral part of the whole.