Leadership Lessons

Leadership Lesson #1

How can we ensure that students retain leadership growth beyond simply participating in activities? This question has guided much of my work as an A-Squad Director for SOAR Through Leadership. SOAR empowers students through interactive activities designed to teach intrapersonal, interpersonal, societal, and strategic leadership competencies that students can apply in their everyday lives. However, one of the biggest challenges we face is ensuring that leadership growth is retained beyond simply participating in the activity. Many similar leadership programs engage students through activities that are exciting in the moment but fail to leave a lasting impact. Without clear connections to real life, students may struggle to apply what they have learned later. This disconnect inspired me to think intentionally about how SOAR could bridge that gap. 

Research on youth leadership development stresses the importance of reflection, mentorship, and experiential learning. Mortensen, Lichty, and Foster-Fishman (2014) argue that youth often see leadership not as a position of authority, but as a collaborative process grounded in community impact. They explain that "Leadership took many shapes and forms for youth, challenging ideas of leaders as authority figures or those possessing specific traits or behaviors" (453). This perspective aligns with SOAR's mission to design activities where students practice leadership as part of a team, rather than as individuals acting alone. Similarly, Blanchet-Cohen and Brunson (2014) emphasize the need for empowering environments that build self-efficacy, initiative, and resilience. They write that “settings that promote youth leadership create a ripple effect, influencing peers and even extending into the wider community” (231). These insights shaped how I approached this leadership lesson. 

During a recent visit to Lafayette Mentors, a local after-school program where SOAR runs activities, my team designed a game where students had to move and communicate while blindfolded. Though the activity was engaging, many could only describe what had happened, not how it connected to leadership. One student even asked, "Are we done yet?" It became clear that while we had captured their attention, we had not helped them connect their experience to leadership competencies like communication or teamwork. In response, we revised our debrief process. Instead of asking vague questions, we began prompting students with specific, reflective questions such as, "How did your team handle conflicts, and what would you do differently next time?" This simple change made a noticeable difference. In later visits, students eagerly shared how they handled challenges, and several naturally stepped into leadership roles by guiding peers or resolving disagreements. 

Another valuable insight came from SOAR's collaboration with College Mentors for Kids, where we engaged 200 students in a single day. This was a major scale-up from our usual work with smaller groups, and consequently had a much more diverse set of needs. To meet the expectations of different age groups, we adapted our activities. For elementary students, we focused on simple games that encouraged communication and collaboration. For middle school students, we introduced activities requiring strategic decision-making and adaptability. Drawing on lessons from developmental psychology, we recognized that students’ developmental levels affect how they learn and interact. Designing activities that matched these levels helped make leadership concepts more accessible. Through these experiences, I learned that effective leadership education requires intentionality, adaptability, and reflection. Specifically:

1. Intentional Reflection: Debriefs should prompt students to make connections between activities and real life. Questions that target competencies like conflict resolution, communication, and adaptability foster deeper learning.

2. Peer Mentorship: Grouping older and younger students together provides natural moments for mentorship. At Lafayette Mentors, we noticed older students stepping up as role models, bridging existing age gaps and strengthening their sense of community. 

3. Flexible Activities: Activities should be designed to adapt across settings, age groups, and available resources. This ensures that leadership programming stays engaging and relevant, even in new or challenging environments. 

Ultimately, this leadership lesson reminded me that leadership growth, especially among youth, requires thoughtful design and guidance. As a leader within SOAR, I want to move beyond simply entertaining students. I want them to leave every session with a stronger sense of who they are, how they can lead, and their own style of leadership. Moving forward, I hope to continue designing experiences that are not just fun, but transformative. 

Leadership Lesson #2

What makes communication effective in leadership? And how can refining your language strengthen your ability to lead and inspire action? Coming into SOAR Through Leadership, I thought I was a good communicator. I had always been taught that good writing (and good speaking) meant saying a lot. I often drowned my statements in elaboration, metaphors, and layers of context. Through my experience with the Lead Forward Fellowship, I learned that all of that “extra” content becomes noise. Communication is not just about expressing ideas; it is about delivering them in a way that others can understand and act on. This led me to ask: What does it mean to say less, but mean more? 

Scholars of leadership communication emphasize that clarity and credibility are essential to building trust and motivating action. Hackman and Johnson (2013) argue that effective leadership depends on the leader's ability to frame reality and offer narratives that guide collective action: “[t]he goal of communication is to create a shared reality between message sources and receivers” (p. 6). This process of framing requires leaders to think carefully about how they structure their messages, ensuring that the language used resonates with both the values and experiences of their audience. By tailoring communication in ways that align with both cultural and contextual expectations, leaders can bridge gaps between different perspectives and foster a deeper sense of shared community. Aligning message and method leads to mutual understanding, which enables collective action. Additionally, “[i]ncreased communication activity…leads to a number of positive outcomes in the United States, a society that values individualism and assertiveness” (p.23). External research on organizational leadership places emphasis on the importance of rhetoric in creating shared vision. Fairhurst (2010) suggests that language doesn’t just describe leadership, it performs it. She explains that leaders must engage in a constant process of reframing situations and reinforcing vision through everyday communication. This research, in tandem with my experience tabling and pitching SOAR Through Leadership, taught me that communication is iterative: leaders test language, adapt it, and learn from audience response. Leadership language is not about sounding intellectual or powerful, rather being efficient and effective. 

When I joined SOAR’s leadership team, I was writing outreach material as if I was submitting an essay. Entire paragraphs about context. Long introductions and confusing acronyms. Multiple metaphors to describe what should have been a simple call-to-action. Eventually, I realized that nobody was getting past the first paragraph. My experience with the Social Impact in Action course provided the guiding framework of “so what?” What is the core message? Why should the reader care? This lesson did not just apply to emails or coursework. It shaped how I facilitated activities at Lafayette Mentors, how I pitched ideas during SOAR meetings, and even how I introduced myself. The goal shifted from “say everything I am thinking” to “say what people need to hear to act.” 

A moment that really captured this shift came during a tabling event for SOAR. Previously, I would have launched into a detailed explanation of the program's background, goals, and every component that made it unique. However, I had learned to condense my message. Instead of overwhelming people with information, I focused on the core impact of SOAR and how it empowers students to make a difference. I simplified my language and asked open-ended questions to keep people directly engaged in the conversation. The response was immediate. People stopped, listened, and many followed up with questions and eventually applications. They were engaged because I wasn’t just speaking at them, but speaking with them. Through these experiences, I realized that effective communication is not about delivering information, but about creating a connection that encourages participation: 

1. Clarity: Effective leadership communication focuses on conciseness. What is the essential message? What do people need to know to care, act, or remember? Cutting extra words also shows respect for my audience’s time and attention. 

2. Framing: is essential. Good leadership language meets people where they are and aligns ideas with their values, needs, or goals. I realized that this also requires empathy. 

3. Iteration: Effective communication does not happen automatically. It happens through revision and learning from my audience. 

Ultimately, this leadership lesson allowed me to unlearn habits I had built for years. I now know that language is not just how I express leadership, but also how I practice it.