Offering indispensable advice to anyone seeking to integrate empowerment into their youth work, this guide demonstrates how youth leaders, teachers, peer program advisors, adults who work with teens and adolescents, and any professional organization with a youth focus can foster leadership qualities in youth. Motivating examples are combined with activities, and reproducible self-assessment checklists to aid individuals and groups in evaluating their strengths and weaknesses in their efforts to empower youth. The tips included can be used in one-on-one situations, in groups, and in structured programs, and have been tested in varied circumstances, including youth programs, communities, classrooms, and faith-based organizations. The introduction outlines the Developmental Assets® framework, and the four empowerment assets are discussed in detail. The importance of being valued by community, treating youth as a valued resource, service to others, and ensuring safety are examined, and ideas for cultivating an environment conducive to empowerment are also discussed.

A major problem in the local church today is lack of leadership. Simply put, we have more needs than we have leaders to meet those needs. So, how do we train better leaders faster? The truth is, very few churches really have a well-thought-out leadership development plan. Growth requires continually adding healthy new leaders, who carry the church culture forward and embody its core values. Everyone knows it, but how do we achieve it? In Empowering Leadership author and leadership consultant Michael Fletcher says leaders like this can't simply be bought, nor can they be hired from someone else's leadership assembly line. Developing leaders at every level, to create an environment that attracts potential leaders, and to build better leaders faster, an organization needs more than a pipeline. It needs a culture that develops leaders organically. Finding the right kind of leaders to guide your church on a path of continual growth comes out of keeping the right focus, and that focus is not just on the leaders. In fact, as Fletcher says, It isn't about the leader. It never was about the leader. It will never be about the leader. It will always and only be about Jesus and his people. It's about the people. True leadership development includes the often messy, but necessary, interaction of life upon life. So hiring pastors and key staff roles from within the church is the very best policy—people who "breathe" the culture of the church and who have helped create the culture you want to maintain. If your church or organization needs a good leadership development structure, then you're holding the right book. Empowering Leadership details Michael's greatest insights on how to build better leaders faster by creating a leadership development culture in your church or organization—naturally, organically, continually. Empower your church or organization through great leadership. This book will show you how!

The ethos, culture, and climate of a school lie at the very heart of its success and have a dramatic impact on the future of its students. This exciting new book shows how through values-based, inclusive, and aspirational leadership, teachers and school leaders can support students in becoming well rounded, globally minded change-makers of the future. Based on the principle that every young person can be a leader, it offers step-by step guidance to support the development of leadership skills and shows how leadership opportunities can be made accessible to all learners. Arguing that leadership needs to be actively and inclusively taught, the book explores how young leadership models, reward systems, risk-taking, well-being strategies, and growth-mindset implementation can transform student motivation levels by creating aspiration, fulfilling dreams, and building character. Packed with practical suggestions and resources, the chapters cover: diversity and leadership establishing a strong student leadership team how to meaningfully mark significant global days making the most of tutor time student well-being fear of failure and how to overcome this building links with the local and wider community. Written by a Director of Ethos at an outstanding Trust, this is essential reading for all teachers and school leaders wanting their students to become empathetic, ambitious, values-driven, and happy young people.

In today's competitive landscape, brains alone won't get you very far. Truly successful students and young professionals live according to God's plan, and they also exhibit skills that make them really stand out. They honor God, communicate well, dress and act professionally, solve problems, and seem to be natural leaders. If you're wondering how you can tap into God's power and acquire these important leadership and soft skills, this book is for you. Author Cary J. Green, PhD, draws upon years of teaching and mentoring students in college and Sunday School to show you how to thrive in your education, career, and life. Green expands his solid advice contained in "Leadership and Soft Skills for Students: Empowered to Succeed in High School, College, and Beyond," and adds nearly 190 scriptural references and Biblical principles to deepen your Christian faith and enhance your professional growth through application of the three Rs: Readiness, Relationships, and Results. Readiness teaches you self-awareness. Relationships teaches you to communicate effectively and connect with others in your personal and professional life. Results teaches you to be future-oriented, solve problems, and to set and achieve God-given goals. Whether you're in high school, college, or graduate school, or are beginning your career, the scriptural references and Biblical principles, advice, and practical exercises contained in this book will empower you to succeed in whatever God calls you to do. "Christian parents will appreciate the author's consistent use of quotes from Scripture and basic, faith-based advice" "A well-executed self-help book for Christian teens." - Kirkus Reviews Cary J. Green, PhD, has been an educator and mentor for more than twenty years and has held academic leadership positions for more than ten years. Now a full-time author, speaker, and life-skills coach, Green has taught undergraduate and graduate students at three different universities. He has taught leadership and academic success classes, and has provided countless hours of mentoring on academic success, leadership, soft skills, and career navigation. Green has received numerous awards and honors for teaching and mentoring. As a Christian, Green has taught high school Sunday School and has worked with church youth groups. Although he has enjoyed success as a researcher, educator, and leader in higher education, his true professional passion is mentoring young people to grow as Christians and to develop leadership and soft skills that empower them to succeed. For more information on personalized academic and life-skills coaching, visit his website at www.Leadershipandsoftskills.com.

In his late twenties, Doug Meyer-Cuno decided to abandon his budding corporate career to found his own company. He would go on to grow Carolina Ingredients from a one-person operation into a multimillion-dollar manufacturing company with an international customer base, eventually selling the company to Mitsubishi. The pages within detail and examine the recipe Doug used for his own success to help others find their own, categorized into five main principles: Vision, Core Culture Values, Authenticity, Transparency, and Gratitude. The Recipe for Empowered Leadership: 25 Ingredients for Creating Value and Empowering Others recounts the lessons Doug learned along that journey, from facing down his micromanager tendencies to embracing servant leadership as a coach and mentor to his team. Brimming with easy-to-read leadership strategies and the life-changing "defining moments" that developed them, Doug reveals the value that a strong, yet grateful leader adds to any organization and how to incorporate those principles into your own leadership practice and life.

Packed with practical advice and helpful strategies, When Kids Lead is a vital addition to the shelves of K-12 educators, who will find not just a roadmap for training students as leaders but concrete examples of how to facilitate growth and development in today's school environment.

Children in today's world are inundated with information about who to be, what to do and how to live. But what if there was a way to teach children how to manage priorities, focus on goals and be a positive influence on the world around them? The Leader in Meis that programme. It's based on a hugely successful initiative carried out at the A.B. Combs Elementary School in North Carolina. To hear the parents of A. B Combs talk about the school is to be amazed. In 1999, the school debuted a programme that taught The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Peopleto a pilot group of students. The parents reported an incredible change in their children, who blossomed under the programme. By the end of the following year the average end-of-grade scores had leapt from 84 to 94. This book will launch the message onto a much larger platform. Stephen R. Covey takes the 7 Habits, that have already changed the lives of millions of people, and shows how children can use them as they develop. Those habits -- be proactive, begin with the end in mind, put first things first, think win-win, seek to understand and then to be understood, synergize, and sharpen the saw -- are critical skills to learn at a young age and bring incredible results, proving that it's never too early to teach someone how to live well.