For K-Kids club officers, the development of leadership skills can be a matter of embracing the unknown, taking a risk and stepping up. Here are some strategies you can use to empower them:
- Build a positive relationship. Create an environment where club officers feel comfortable being themselves. This includes incorporating a growth mindset that helps officers see opportunities to learn and to grow — even when things don’t go as planned. A positive relationship helps them relax, letting their true personalities shine through. Watch Edutopia’s video Letting Young People Lead with Their True Identity to learn more.
- Educate officers and help them bond as a team. Use the K-Kids Officer Guides to teach officers their responsibilities. Understanding roles will help them learn what is expected of them and how to best support each other. Training is also a perfect time to introduce icebreaker and teambuilding activities that allow officers to bond and learn about their strengths.
- Learn what service interests them. Conduct mapping using the K-Kids Service Guide to learn about real needs in the school and your community — and how the club can help. Review service ideas and have officers and members identify their favorites. Encourage officers to lead the service project that most interests them.
- Energize the start of club meetings. Set aside time to begin with a fun icebreaker or teambuilding activity and ask officers to lead. Rotate the leadership role so that each officer gets a turn. The more they do this, the more comfortable they’ll feel leading group activities.
- Look beyond club activities and events. Develop confidence by encouraging officers to be leaders in different settings — for example, by serving their families, friends, neighbors and other groups. If your club tracks service hours, provide service credit for what officers do away from the club.
- Open the officer roles to more members. Clubs can take a creative approach to the officer structure to allow more youth to engage as club officers. Some clubs elect officers for half the year or even monthly.