Audience: Six to eight New employees of YouthCARE, young staff members new to full time youth work.

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1 YouthCARE Youth Workers and Audience: Six to eight New employees of YouthCARE, young staff members new to full time youth work. Goal: To prepare new youth workers to critically think about and demonstrate positive leadership while working with youth, using YouthCAREʼs philosophy of youth development as a guide. Time: about 2.5 hours Icebreaker: Facilitatorʼs choice 10 minutes Activity One: What is a Youth Worker? 20 minutes Activity Two: What is a leader? 15 minutes Activity Three: Discussion of YouthCAREʼs Philosophy of Youth Development 35 minutes Activity Four: Theories and Youth Work 45 minutes Conclusion: in Your Daily Work 25 minutes

2 Activity One: What is a youth worker? 20 minutes The purpose of this activity is to give new youth workers time to consider the different types of youth work, learn about the many types of youth workers, and discuss why youth work is important. In the room have three separate sheets of newsprint with one word written at the top of each sheet: What? Who? and Why? Group will be asked to write individually on all three sheets their thoughts about youth work and these three questions. (5 minutes) After everyone has written on each of the sheets the facilitator will ask someone to summarize what each sheet says. (5 minutes) As a group they will discuss what is youth work, who does youth work, and why is it important? (10 minutes) Activity Two: What is a leader? 15 minutes The purpose of this activity is to help the staff think about leadership in their own lives, what they think qualifies someone as a leader, and hear other staffʼs ideas about leadership. Each staff will be asked to write down the name of someone they believe is a leader, in what capacity they know that person, what they think qualifies him or her as a leader, what skills he or she possess, how are they lacking as a leader, what is one word that describes his or her leadership style. (5 minutes) In pairs each person will share who their person is and what they wrote about him or her. (5minutes) As a group we will create a list of qualities a leader should have. (5 minutes) Activity Three: Discussion of YouthCAREʼs Philosophy of Youth Development 35 minutes

3 The purpose of this activity is to introduce the new staff to YouthCAREʼs philosophy of working with youth, including program specific goals. Each new staff will receive a copy of YouthCAREʼs Philosophy statement including the mission, as well as a copy of the stated program goals for the program they will be working in. (YouthCARE Philosophy Appendix A) As a group we will read the mission. As a group we will read each specific statement and talk about both positive and negative examples of how each statement might look within youth work. (15 minutes) As a group discuss the definitions provided as key aspects to YouthCAREʼs programming, again giving both positive and negative examples. (10 minutes) Break into program specific groups, discuss program specific goals, learn why are we here, and talk as a program team about how the program goals relate to YouthCAREʼs philosophy. (10 minutes) Activity Four: Theories and Youth Work 45 minutes The purpose of this activity is to expose new staff to leadership theories, and give them the opportunity to reflect upon which theories might be good to use in their program areas. ( Theories Chart see Appendix B) The group will be split into small groups; each group will be given a chart of many different leadership theories. As a group they will pick 4 theories they think would be good models for working with youth and discuss why. (15 minutes) Each group will report back to the larger group their ideas. (5 minutes) Individually each new staff will reflect and write on which 3 or 4 theories they think would be the best fit for their specific program area and why. (10 minutes)

4 Each individual will report his or her ideas back to the group for feed back from the facilitator and other group members. (15 minutes) Conclusion: in your daily work The purpose of this activity is to give new staff time to reflect about what they have learned about leadership, the new program area they will be working in, and how it should impact their daily work. Staff will be giving time to start a journal to keep throughout the year. Time will be giving right away and throughout the year to reflect on their work. For the first journaling session the following questions will be used as a guide: How can you use these ideas of leadership on a daily basis? When do they apply? What values is YouthCARE trying to teach, what philosophy are they using, how can you role model desired behavior every day?

5 Appendix A YouthCARE's mission is to promote respect for self and others, develop future leaders, and provide youth with positive multicultural activities and relationships with caring adults. We believe that all people can contribute positively to their community and the world. At YouthCARE we believe in promoting community, respect, sustainability, youth advocacy, and youth voice. As an organization our core values are: 1. The world is a diverse place; our youth, volunteers, and staff reflect it. 2. People are inherently good; youth deserve multiple chances to get things right. 3. Everyone (including youth) has life experiences; we value and expect people to share their knowledge with each other. 4. The environment is worth protecting; we encourage and teach people to help protect the environment. 5. Violence, verbal and physical creates unsafe spaces; we promote a non-violent community. 6. People learn from watching others; our youth, volunteers, and staff are positive role models for each other. 7. Community service is essential to developing engaged citizens; we appreciate our volunteers that work with us and encourage our youth to volunteer.

6 Appendix B For use in activity four, should remove information from Youth Development and Criticisms Columns Theory Description Focus Youth Development Criticism Trait Theory Cognitive Resources Theory Innate characteristics, personality, aptitude, 5 main characteristics Intelligence, Self-confidence, determination, integrity, sociability How do cognitive resources such as intelligence and experience relate to leadership effectiveness? 3 propositions 1leader ability contributes to group performance, 2 perceived stress influences the relation between intelligence and decision quality, 3 perceived stress moderates the relation between leader experience and performance Only individual, the Leader Leader traits as they interact with situational variables Difficult to use, because only focuses on the leader, there is nothing about the relationship with others, or ability to develop skills If it is all about the situation, how can a youth worker learn to lead in every situation possible? Too much about situation and not enough about the person Never looked at why effective in some situations and not others, no development possible Traits are only discussed in regards to how they interact with situational variables Skills Model Skills possessed by the leader are the most relevant component for effective leadership. It looks at leadership behavior within its social context. Leaders are not born. Knowledge in social perceptiveness is essential Interaction between leader and the environment as they develop problem solving skills developed through experience. Focus is still on leader and environment, but not leader and followers (staff)

7 Transactional Psychodynamic Approach to Based on exchange between leaders and followers. Effective when it is in thee best interest of the follower to do what the leader wants. 4 types 1 contingent reward rewards or incentives used to motivate 2 active management by exception corrective criticism, negative feedback or negative reinforcement 3 passive management by exception reacts to problems after they have occurred and become an obstacle 4 laissez-faire a leader who is indifferent to followers and not concerned with mission Freud & Jung You start to experience leadership the day you are born, leadership follows stages of development 1 family origin - parent socializes the child into society; 2 maturation or individualization; child becomes independent of parents learns how to deal with authority figures; 3 child becomes an adult they develop relationships with leaders which mirror the parent child relationship they had; 4 adult some oppress childhood memories and move on. Approach assumes an individual can change behaviors and feelings toward leaders by gaining insight into the relationship with their parents, in this way they can grow Exchange between leaders and followers, but not about both Individual in roles with others Not about being engaged in work, do we really want youth workers doing youth work to get paid, or afraid to try new things if they do something wrong once? The ability to develop or change is a good model, but focusing on what happened as a child doesn t leave much room for growth as a leader at work Doesn t encourage followers to be engaged in their work. The leader has the power and controls the terms of the relationship Quite a bit is focused on upbringing and not having control over the situation

8 Participative Leader member Exchange Theory Social Exchange Theory 4 decision procedures along a continuum 1 autocratic decision the leaders makes the decision alone; 2 consultation - the leader asks the followers for ideas and then makes the decision along; 3 joint decision the leader meets with followers to discuss the problem and formulate a decision; 4 delegation the leader gives authority to an individual or group to make a decision a leader uses these decision making styles for different decisions that arise The leader has a individual relationship with each follower. Some followers fall in the in group in some in the out group. The in group is the close circle, the group that the leader relies on to accomplish tasks, they believe in the leader and in the mission, also sometimes expected to do more work. The out group is the group ends up with a transactional relationship, Leader emerges through a variety of exchanges, by demonstrating competence and loyalty. If a leader steers the group to try something new and is successful he is rewarded, if he fails he is replaced. Leader expected to organize work, distribute rewards, provide support, be innovative when dealing with serious problems Interactive, allows followers some influence of the leader s decisions, Leader works with those who she likes Exchange of benefits or favors between leader and followers Involves the group, allows for leader to learn from other staff, and helps develop future leaders If you aren t developing future leaders in all of your youth workers, how can the non-leaders (the task folks) create leaders and do positive work with youth? Good to have multiple leaders give people a chance to try leading, could be harmful if someone fails and the group judges them too harshly Not goal oriented (not sure this is really a criticism Not a good idea to have different expectations for different staff Theory doesn t seem to support people if they make a mistake.

9 LPC Contingency Model Hersy and Banchard s Situation Model The situation moderates the relationship between leadership effectiveness and a trait measure called the least preferred co-worker (LPC) score. LPC determined by asking leader to rate the person she worked least well with. A low LPC score means the leader is task oriented and may have difficulty attaining goals. If the leader has a high LPC score is relationship oriented, middle scores are socioindepenent. The relationship between a leader s LPC and effectiveness depends on situational favorability. Favorability is the extent to which the situation gives a leader control over followers. Two patterns of staff maturity 1 Job maturity task relevant skills and technical knowledge; 2 psychological maturity self confidence, self respect. Leaders use this knowledge to decide how to approach follower, 4 styles 1 directive for followers with low job and psychological maturity levels 2 selling for low job maturity and high psychological maturity 3 participating how job maturity and low psychological maturity 4 delegating high job and psychological maturity Leader characteristics and the situation Leader changes approach based on job and psychological maturity of follower Too confusing to use on a regular basis Focuses on individuals, what we ask youth workers to do with youth. Does take more time than most theories would. Way too much work to discover how someone will work in certain situations The leader is constantly readjusting their behavior

10 Path-Goal Theory of The leader s behavior is motivating or satisfying to the follower if the behavior increases the attractiveness of the goals while also increasing follower confidence in achieving them. Four types of behaviors geared towards specific follower and situation 1 supportive- best when the task is stressful, boring and or dangerous, is thought to increase follower effort and satisfaction by increasing self confidence 2 directive best when the follower is inexperienced and the task is complex 3 participative best when the task is unstructured by increasing role clarity 4 achievement oriented could increase follower effort and satisfaction when the task is unstructured and complex, thought to increase self confidence Emphasis between the leader s style and the characteristics of the follower and the situation Focuses on the individual and the situation, again, what we ask of youth workers on a regular basis. Also helps build confidence for the future Leaders must be able to use multiple styles to meet the needs of the followers

11 Multiple Linkage Model of Substitute Theory Impact of leader behaviors on group performance is complex and has four set of variables: 2 are influential in determining leader effectiveness 1 Managerial variables - refers to thee immediate effects of leader s behavior on the follower s job performance 2 intervening variables comprise of follower effort, ability, role clarity, organization, cooperation, and team work. 2 are situational characteristics 1 formal reward system 2 intrinsically motivating properties of the work itself. The intervening variables may be directly affected by the situational characteristics and vice versa. The job of the leader is to correct the deficiencies that arise in the intervening variables in the short run, and improve the situational factors over time Identifies situations that reduce or eliminate the need for a leader. 2 situational variables: 1 substitutes may be aspects of the situation, or characteristics of followers that cause intervening variables to be high 2 neutralizers - constraints that prevent the leader from making improvements to the intervening variables. Neutralizers block leader effectiveness The leader needs to realize the situation and how her followers and the situation might work together this time Focuses on obstacles to good leadership Seems complicated just to be complicated, does touch of impact of leader on the group Focuses on problems, not building good leaders Overly complicated behaviors not addressed

12 Vroom & Yetton s Normative Decision Model Charismatic Model describes which procedures should be effective in several specific situations. Effectiveness of a decision depends on quality of the decision and acceptance by followers. Similar to trait theory, the leaders is seen as a risk taker, self confident, or a need for power. Followers believe the leader is right. Emergence as a leader is usually dependent on the situation. Leader following guidelines in certain situations Appreciates the connection between leaders, followers, and the situation Clear ideas of how to handle situations Doesn t teach people to lead, focuses on solving problems in many different situations Focuses on abilities of one person, also the power awarded to charismatic leaders can make them insensitive, manipulative, impulsive, which can create a negative impact

13 Transformational Changes and transforms individuals, often involved with ethics and involves long-term goals. The leader must be attentive to the followers needs and motivations to help them reach their full potential. Four main factors: 1 idealized influence natural leaders who act as strong role models, high moral ethics, provide followers with a vision 2 inspiration motivation a descriptive leader who inspires followers to be committed and share their vision in the organization. Achieved through the use of symbols and emotional appeals, leave personal goals behind to pursue organizational goals 3 intellectual stimulation promotes followers to be creative and innovative by encouraging followers to think through problems and seek out solutions. Helps develop problem solving skills. 4 individualized consideration leaders who create supportive climate for followers, listen carefully to the individual needs of followers and through coaching and advising help followers become self-actualized Focuses on the process by which the leader engages with the follower, and together create a connection that raises each of them to higher levels of motivation and morality About empowering people to do their best, to believe in themselves, and develop their own set of morals and ethical values. Seems like good youth work to me. A lot to consider

14 Servant A step beyond transformational and stresses ethical practice. Leaders have a duty to serve in ethically and environmentally conscious ways. Model not concerned with specific characteristics of leaders, followers or the situation. Instead focuses on global long-term effects of leadership behaviors. The leader s duty is to serve her followers Long-range human and environmental welfare is important, teaching people to be good stewards of the world (Dewey good citizens?) Focuses on people and their impact Not concerned with specific characteristics, could be difficult to teach others to lead in this model.