Life Skills & Leadership: Unit 4, Session 1: What is a Leader? | Page 5 of 91What relationship does this game have to leadership? (Possible answers: Sometimes there
is confusion about who the leader is or what that person should do. Individuals can lead by
making a contribution at just the right time.)
What did we do to help us play the game? (Possible answers: Being bold. Taking a risk.
Waiting to let someone else have a turn.)
What are some important aspects of being a follower that came up in the game?
(Possible answers: There needs to be some followers. Not everyone can take a leadership
role.)B. Summary
Summarize by saying:
“In this game you can see that even without a formal leader we were able to eventually be
successful. And we also saw that there are advantages to being a good follower. To win the game,
we had to include everyone. Even if someone had never spoken, she or he would have made an
important contribution by leaving ‘space’ for others to say a number at just the right time. Today
we are going to learn more about leadership and ways we can be a leader, even if we do not have a
formal role as a leader.”II. Information ( 45 minutes)
Materials:
Handout 1: Leadership Quotations (cut into slips of paper with one quote on each)
Flip chart 1: Instructions
A. Leadership Quotes
Participants define the qualities of good leadership.
- Invite participants to think about what it means to be a good leader. Say:
“One focus of this training series is to help you develop your leadership skills. So it’s important for you
to have a clear picture of what a leader is. What would you say are qualities of a good leader?”- Get a few responses from participants. Then randomly distribute at least one leadership quotation
from Handout 1 to each person. Say:
“There are many qualities of good leaders and there are many examples of great leaders. I’ve given
each of you a slip of paper with a quote about leadership that was made by a famous leader. I would
like you to stand and move about our learning space. Show your leadership quote to several different
people and read the quotes that they have. If you find a quote you like better, you can trade. If you like
your quote better, keep it but try to get opinions from other people about why it is particularly good.”Note: If you are concerned that participants may not have the reading level required for this activity, here are some
suggestions: Read each quote aloud before giving it to a participant. Have participants work with a partner so they can help
each other with the reading. Read quotes aloud (perhaps in addition to having a written version on a flip chart) and ask
participants to “vote with their feet” by moving to one area of the learning space if they like the quote and another area if
they dislike the quote, then have a quick discussion about their voting.).