Leadership development for a teenager

Trust me, @arbella13 , I have to hold my breath whenever I put my math skillz on display. Fortunately for them, both my sons inherited their math skills from Mom.
 
One thing that has helped my development as a leader has been having USNA as my goal—whenever a leadership opportunity presents itself, I think about what a mid should do, and do it. It has really helped me become a more confident person, and lends itself well to my goal. So some advice—get him really passionate about going to a military academy!
 
My dd was a WALLFLOWER, she was a self-proclaimed "nerd", and was happier in a book and doing math problems (actually her favorite thing was finding mistakes in textbooks). I had her on a swim team, girl scouts, American Heritage Girls, and other activities but nothing really clicked until Sea Cadets. It really pushed her out of the comfort zone for having to speak up BUT she also thrived in the disciplined atmosphere. She made Chief in about 3.5 years and she is working with the cadets so that the unit is strong for her siblings when she leaves.

Remember your son is still young ... but I do highly suggest you look into a Sea Cadet (or CAP) program.
 
Another thing to consider would be volunteering for your representative or a senator. Political affiliation aside it's an interesting experience and it will potentially help him come appointment time.
 
CatMomof5 said:
My dd was a WALLFLOWER, she was a self-proclaimed "nerd", and was happier in a book and doing math problems (actually her favorite thing was finding mistakes in textbooks). I had her on a swim team, girl scouts, American Heritage Girls, and other activities but nothing really clicked until Sea Cadets. It really pushed her out of the comfort zone for having to speak up BUT she also thrived in the disciplined atmosphere. She made Chief in about 3.5 years and she is working with the cadets so that the unit is strong for her siblings when she leaves.

Remember your son is still young ... but I do highly suggest you look into a Sea Cadet (or CAP) program.
Click to expand...
My mother was a Sea Cadet... many years ago.
As soon as we could walk we were taught to swim. As soon as we could swim we were taught to sail.
I remember at the age of 8 being pushed out in a sailboat by her and admonished “to be back by dark.” An 8 year old kid going out of the bay into the “wilds” of Long Island Sound. It taught me much about life.
Of course my brothers and sisters counter that, with 7 kids to feed, she was just trying to get rid of one more moth.
 
UHBlackhawk said:
My mother was a Sea Cadet... many years ago.
As soon as we could walk we were taught to swim. As soon as we could swim we were taught to sail.
I remember at the age of 8 being pushed out in a sailboat by her and admonished “to be back by dark.” An 8 year old kid going out of the bay into the “wilds” of Long Island Sound. It taught me much about life.
Of course my brothers and sisters counter that, with 7 kids to feed, she was just trying to get rid of one more moth.
Click to expand...
Probably a Sea Scout as Sea Cadets really don't emphasize sailing and your mom is probably from the era before young women were allowed to become Sea Cadets.

R/
Sea Cadet 1971-1974
 
For the OP, there are many ways to lead. When you have a choice, it's helpful to start with an interest or activity about which you are passionate. Music, a sport, kids, animals, veterans, politics, agriculture, language, journalism, religion, art, etc. There is no "better" or "worse" activity for SA purposes (at least for USNA) provided it's something productive and legal.

At his age, I recommend first just getting involved. You can help him find groups in or out of school that support his chosen area(s). For example, if he wants to help veterans, start with the local VFW or similar groups and work from there. Ask to meet with one of the group's leaders and demonstrate interest. Attend meetings and see what they're doing. Go from there. If he's into a sport, think of what he could he do other than play? For example, I worked with a (successful candidate) lacrosse player who worked after school and during the summer at the local lacrosse store (yep, the town of 15,000 has one). He could teach the sport at a summer camp for younger kids.

Once he's in the group (or groups), he can look for opportunities to lead. Start small and build from there. More ideas . . .

I worked with a (successful candidate) who organized her own tutoring program. Arranged with a public library to hold the sessions, recruited folks from her school to do it, planned the events, recruited underprivileged kids from her community to attend, etc. Did this every Saturday for 3 hours and during the summer.

Say he likes a particular breed of dog. Find the rescue group. They often participate in local events (dog fairs, etc.). He could work his way up to running one of those events. Or could start a dog-walking program for shut-ins.

The possibilities are endless and there is no one-size-fits-all.

What is less likely to be successful is to say: "What can I do that will look good for X college?" That makes it a job, not a passion and you're usually more successful with things about which you're passionate.

Finally -- if you lead in something about which you're passionate and a school doesn't like it . . . maybe that's not the right school for you.
 
Check out "How to be a High School Superstar" by Cal Newport.

"The basic message of the book is this: Don't wear yourself out taking as many classes as you can and being involved in every club and sport. Instead, leave yourself enough free time to explore your interests. Cultivate one interest and make it into something special that will make you stand out among the other applicants and get you into the toughest schools, even if your grades and scores aren't stellar. Newport calls this the “relaxed superstar approach,” and he shows you how to really do this, breaking the process down into three principles, explained and illustrated with real life examples of students who got into top schools: (1) underscheduling—making sure you have copious amounts of free time to pursue interesting things, (2) focusing on one or two pursuits instead of trying to be a “jack of all trades,” and (3) innovation—developing an interesting and important activity or project in your area of interest. This fruit yielded by this strategy, an interesting life and real, meaningful achievements, is sure to help not only with college admissions, but getting a job, starting a business, or whatever your goals."

http://www.examiner.com/review/be-a-relaxed-high-school-superstar
 
I'm glad to see the Sea Cadets mentioned here as I followed this thread. My eldest , who attended Usafa, and is a major now, mainly participated in what my mom called "being a good citizen, or being active and volunteering in your community". They didn't refer to it a leadership back then. As a child we all got involved with my parents civic involvement, maybe raising money for a new pool, or being a Camp Fire leader, or 'working 'at the local community thrift store. My parents helped to maintain the yard of my mom's sorority house during the summers. My dad helped a disabled friend with his firewood every Saturday..among other things. They both died too young...

. So , next generation, my first daughter pursued her own interests as she compiled thousands of community volunteer hours. She volunteered a lot at the zoo with the ponies and the public, the staff weren't particularly nice to them, and told them, " one complaint from the public and they were finished."As she had been on the wait list to volunteer for 2 years she took this seriously. Interestingly, she found out about this program riding a ski lift with another teen, and wanted to get on the wait list which she then did. I was just now talking to her about that, she probably learned more about public relations , being helpful and cheerful, and leadership in those 2 years as a teenager than most would learn ever! It was not a program I knew about, indeed she had to ride 2 buses to get there plus work a 9 hour day so she learned a lot about public transportation too. She's done well in the AF and has won awards and seems to be able to figure things out ... Yes she still loves her horses . She wears her dress jacket when she competes when it is a higher level competion. She wears breeches on the lower half. She said it's common ( or was common historically) to see dress Army uniforms at the equine shows but not AF uniforms.

My other daughter did Sea Cadets. We thought it was Sea Scouts and didn't know the difference as the 2 groups actually meet about a mile apart but I found the Sea Cadet website first. I looked over the curriculum for Sea Cadets and thought it looked really interesting. Especially for females who have a lot of interests. That daughter is more academic and she loved the reading and the tests for each level. I think she zipped though in a couple of years and was the first female chief in her squadron`s history. She could quell 50 boys with one look. The leadership adults told me they really enjoyed seeing such a quiet leadership style, it was new to them also! The Sea Cadet adults wanted her to go to USNA but both of my girls love their animals and long ship cruises just aren't a good fit. The interview with the AF SS didnt go well he said she just wanted to be her sister so that was the end of that. She went to the local U and got Bachelors in Physics , Math, and CS as well as a MS in CS,all in about 5 years.. For every tech job interview at her level you need to pass a 4 hour test so testing skills are important... She has a tough job keeping the cloud going for a Cloud Company and her environment is very stressful.. Her tech coworkers have few social skills and no leadership skills what so ever. Its mind boggling to me how they can endlessly harass someone when they make one mistake, or have so much workplace hostility when she turns them down if they want to date her. She was taken aback when she first started working. (* her coworker made the mistake, she said he just got one command mixed with a similar word.. She said it made her really afraid to make a similar mistake, she was really unhappy about the way they kept rubbing it in. I guess it shut down the special terminal . Maybe it works out in the end to learn the hard way. It was a wakeup call to the tech world..) The AF has more rules and policies on these issues. Luckily she can talk to her sister about how she can approach her bosses.. The tech companies are sort of in the dark ages in this area, and when she describes her work place it reminds me of what women in my generation had to deal with.. The tech worker second daughter is a little jealous of all the AF travel and new assignments. The tech jobs do pay well though...She learned a lot about proper workplace etiquette in Sea Cadets. She's too young to be a manager but I know Sea Cadets prepared her. . Another vote for Sea Cadets..
 
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