The way your students interact with each other will ultimately impact the performance of the entire team. If the relationships within your leadership program are strong there will be a greater chance of having a positive impact on your campus and community. Likewise, if student leaders within your program struggle to get along with one another, they will jeopardize the effectiveness of their collective leadership.
Here are 4 Things Teams Must Avoid according to Cody Braun: (I’ve adapted his thoughts to fit the needs of leading a student leadership program)
GOSSIP: When student leaders find themselves gossiping about others within the program, all trust is lost. Student leaders ability to perform at a high level is completing diminished if they can’t trust those with whom they are working with. Gossip will destroy! Leadership programs will never flourish where gossip resides.
SELFISHNESS: This happens when student leaders get consumed with their task or activity and forget the BIG PICTURE. They want their work to shine at the expense of casting a shadow on the works of others. They become “bigger” than the program and put their needs above others.
LAZINESS: One of the most detrimental things that can happen to a student leadership program is when student leaders become lazy. When they display a lack of passion or commitment. It becomes contagious and eventually effects other student leaders in the program. When student leaders don’t feel that everyone is pulling their weight, negative attitudes almost always follow. Once again damaging teams.
NEGATIVITY: When student leaders fall into this trap their negative words and actions begin to erode the foundation of leadership. Their negativity undermines everyone else’s effort, those who are actually trying to reach the goals of the program. Nothing sucks the life out of a team like a negative leader. Negativity drains all the energy out of any situation.
Discussion:
- Have a discuss about the 4 things mentioned above and how to overcome each of them.
- Which one of the four does our leadership program struggle with the most? Why?
- What are some action steps we can take moving forward to avoid these four things?
4 Seasons of ASB 