Qualities of Effective Leaders
1. Take charge—control the group
2. Communicate well with followers
- consider followers’ range of knowledge
- are available (in person, internet, phone)
- good listeners
3. Know their group (followers)
- know which activities are a good fit
- offer a variety of activities to meet followers’ varying needs/desires
4. Decisive
5. Work through problems as they arise
6. Knowledgeable
7. Well Prepared
- have a plan:arrive early, set up the room and materials in advance, have enough resources for everyone
- rehearse—try out what you’re going to say and do well in advance
8. Use all the available resources
- your co-leader
- texts
- internet
- adults (parents and friends)
- community experts
9. Lead By Example
10. Share Leadership
- with your co-leader
- step down from leader role to join the group
11. Evaluate
- during the activity—assess as you go along and determine whether any part of your plan needs to be changed
- post-activity—how did the activity go? did everybody take part? did they enjoy themselves? can you make improvements?
1. Communicate—email, AIM, google chat, SKYPE
2. Get to Know Each Other
- strengths and weaknesses
- share opinions, especially about what you think worked/didn’t work last year
- likes and dislikes
3. During the Session
- comment as appropriate
- share leadership
- communicate throughout session
4. Critique—constructively evaluate yourself and your co-leader: what could you do better?