Benefits of Youth Leadership Workshop

Youth leadership is the practice of teens exercising authority over themselves or others. This can be enhanced by youth leadership development, which involves gaining the skills and knowledge necessary to lead civic engagement, education reform, and community organizing activities. From time immemorial, there has been a debate about whether leaders are born or made. Facts state that leaders are made, not born. There are a few leadership qualities that come naturally, but many children and young adults rely on the people in their lives and their experiences to help them develop important leadership qualities. There are many ways youths develop their leadership qualities, but we want to examine the benefits of youth leadership workshops.

Developing communication skills

Leaders are voices of the community, and they talk on behalf of others. Workshops bring teens together from diverse backgrounds irrespective of their race, age, gender, and religion. The teens learn to socialize, make connections and speak to and on behalf of their team and colleagues, and more importantly, learn to be effective listeners. The art of public speaking can be learned in an early stage and perfected as the youths grow older.

Building confidence and wisdom

All leadership training provokes learners to analyze a challenging situation and eventually find ways of overcoming the challenge. Providing youth with the information and resources necessary for analyzing issues that affect their lives and environment will help them become strong strategists on ways to act as change agents in their community. Guiding the youth to use what they are passionate about and creativity to solve issues makes the learners gain confidence. This is achieved by the various activities lined up in the leadership workshop. This helps learners build self-confidence and wisdom.

Learning new strategies and techniques

Through different activities such as challenging games and at times learning new games, learners develop new strategies and techniques for doing things. Learning new things in a team develops their negotiation skills and the importance of everyone's contribution to the success of the task assigned. Ethical leadership is of great importance to our country Kenya, and there is a need to instill tenets of integrity in youth leadership.

Seeing the real world through community service

Leadership training workshops require learners to join groups that provide community services such as community cleaning, providing clothes to the homeless, cooking food, and giving to the homeless. They also advocate for learners to volunteer work in orphanages or old-age homes etc. These activities make learners cognizant of the less privileged members of our society who need assistance and empathy. Teaching the teen’s emotional intelligence. Teach the youths to be open-minded and listen to others' opinion.

Expanding social connections

Leadership workshop enables young learners to interact with various people from all walks of life. Learning from great leaders who at times could become their mentors. These mentors must be outstanding individuals who are well-groomed in terms of morals and integrity. This expands their social connections.

These leadership workshops are the seed that will produce dynamic, visionary leaders in the future. I would advocate for more and more youths to attend such leadership workshops.