How Mentors Can Develop Leadership Skills Among the Youth

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The Need For Mentorship And Guidance:

For individuals between aged 15 to 24 years, a mentor serves as a key resource for their academic, personal, and emotional development. EducationWeek notes that having a mentor is essential to any student. A mentor provides the following benefits:

Development of a positive attitude towards school and work
Higher chances of graduating with excellent grades
Gaining knowledge to make better lifestyle choices
Stronger relationships with friends, and family

In addition to these, learning how to be a leader is a key skill for all adolescents and young adults. While some individuals have better leadership skills than others, this article by FutureSTRONG Academy explains how mentors can help teach, cultivate, and improve these skills through the following ways:

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Learning How To Handle Stress:

Leaders maintain the responsibility of making important decisions that decide the success or failure of their organization. They overcome the stress of such situations through proper planning and good time management skills as reported by Lolly Daskal. When it comes to adolescents these skills can be developed through:

Having a conversation regarding their goals and challenges they are afraid of.
Helping them create a roadmap for achieving said goals. This includes setting time-bound objectives such as completing degrees, undertaking internships and volunteer work, etc.
Help them develop an optimistic attitude rather than a pessimistic one.
Teaching the importance of having a good work-life balance which includes making time for leisure, developing proper sleeping habits, and focusing on nutrition.

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Developing Good Communication Skills:

The ability to communicate is a skill revered in all leaders and can be developed through:

Providing tips on maintaining strong body language while speaking.
Teaching how to be a good listener.
Roleplaying stressful situations such as interviews, pitch presentations, sales calls, etc.
Giving inputs on the basics of communicating through email which includes being concise and respectful.

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Becoming A Lifelong Learner:

Big Life Journal notes that leaders recognize that learning is a continuous process also called a growth mindset. A mentor can aid in the development of this mindset through:

Obtaining higher degrees in education through an online program (this may help).
Inculcating the habit of reading books, which can include biographies, non-fiction, self-help, and more.
Providing a list of seminars and conferences one can attend to network and meet industry leaders.

While one cannot master these skills overnight, having the support of a mentor will help accelerate this process and provide a safe environment for adolescents and young adults to make mistakes and work towards becoming the leaders of tomorrow.

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FutureSTRONG Academy is focused on raising children to respect themselves, their time and their capabilities in a world where distractions are just a click or swipe away. Contact us today to learn more! 678-310-5025.

Image via Unsplash

Article Author: Brittany Fisher

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About The Article Author:

Brittany Fisher has spent more than 20 years as a CPA. She runs her own site, Financiallywell.info where she shares her knowledge about taxes, personal finance and general financial literacy hoping to help anyone who may benefit from it.