Kouzes James M.Morgan Gary M.High Beth.Posner Barry - The Student Leadership Challenge

Contents

Cover image: Shutterstock

Cover design: Adrian Morgan

Copyright 2013 by John Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights reserved.

Published by Jossey-Bass

A Wiley Imprint

One Montgomery Street, Suite 1200, San Francisco, CA 94104-4594 www.josseybass.com

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, scanning, or otherwise, except as permitted under Section 107 or 108 of the 1976 United States Copyright Act, without either the prior written permission of the publisher, or authorization through payment of the appropriate per-copy fee to the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc., 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400, fax 978-646-8600, or on the Web at www.copyright.com . Requests to the publisher for permission should be addressed to the Permissions Department, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 111 River Street, Hoboken, NJ 07030, 201-748-6011, fax 201-748-6008, or online at www.wiley.com/go/permissions .

Limit of Liability/Disclaimer of Warranty: While the publisher and author have used their best efforts in preparing this book, they make no representations or warranties with respect to the accuracy or completeness of the contents of this book and specifically disclaim any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No warranty may be created or extended by sales representatives or written sales materials. The advice and strategies contained herein may not be suitable for your situation. You should consult with a professional where appropriate. Neither the publisher nor author shall be liable for any loss of profit or any other commercial damages, including but not limited to special, incidental, consequential, or other damages. Readers should be aware that Internet Web sites offered as citations and/or sources for further information may have changed or disappeared between the time this was written and when it is read.

Jossey-Bass books and products are available through most bookstores. To contact Jossey-Bass directly call our Customer Care Department within the U.S. at 800-956-7739, outside the U.S. at 317-572-3986, or fax 317-572-4002.

Wiley publishes in a variety of print and electronic formats and by print-on-demand. Some material included with standard print versions of this book may not be included in e-books or in print-on-demand. If this book refers to media such as a CD or DVD that is not included in the version you purchased, you may download this material at http://booksupport.wiley.com . For more information about Wiley products, visit www.wiley.com .

ISBN: 978-1-118-39008-5 (paper)

ISBN: 978-1-118-60256-0 (ebk.)

ISBN: 978-1-118-60257-7 (ebk.)

ISBN: 978-1-118-60258-4 (ebk.)

Welcome to The Student Leadership Challenge

There is no shortage of challenges that require exemplary leadership. Leaders help others meet these challenges. Student leaders will help those they influence face the immediate issues of today and eventually lead the long-term development of people, communities, and institutions so they can adapt, change, prosper, and grow. The core philosophy of The Student Leadership Challenge disputes the myth that leadership is something that you find only at the top of the class or as the person running a student organization. Leadership is not about position or title, power or authority, celebrity or wealth, family or genetics. Its also not just something for a chosen few. Rather, leadership is everyones business.

Moreover, leadership is an identifiable set of skills and abilities that is available to everyone. It is about relationships, personal credibility, and what leaders do. Its about an observable set of skills and abilities that are useful wherever a leader may be. Given the motivation and desire, leadership is a skill that can be strengthened, honed, and enhanced through practice and feedback, following role models, and coaching. If students find themselves in a challenging situation that requires setting a good example for others, looking ahead to the future, taking initiative to change the status quo, building teamwork and trust, and encouraging others to succeed, they are in a situation that requires leadership. What is required of them in this situation is that they step forward and become the best leader they can be.

The Student Leadership Challenge is about how students mobilize others to want to make extraordinary things happen in their schools, communities, and organizations. Its an evidence-based framework that describes the practices student leaders use to transform values into actions, visions into realities, obstacles into innovations, separateness into solidarity, and risks into rewards. It shows how students can create the climate in which people turn challenging opportunities into remarkable successes.

Its been said that the education and development of people is the lever to change the world, and we believe this is especially true for young people. In these extraordinary times, the challenges seem only to be increasing in number and complexity. But remember that all generations confront their own serious threats and receive their own favorable circumstances. The abundance of challenges is not the issue: its how our young people respond to them that matters. Through their responses, they have the potential to seriously worsen or profoundly improve the world in which we live.

Yours is a noble cause. By improving a students ability to lead, you will directly affect the kinds of positive changes that our world needs. You will make a difference in the quality of the life of your students and those they will influence throughout their lives. We know from our research that every student has the capacity to learn to lead and the capacity to make extraordinary things happen. We believe in them, we believe in you, and we thank you for challenging yourself to liberate and develop the leader in every student.

The foundation of the approach set out in this book is The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership model. The model began as a research project in 1983 that asked people, What did you do when you were at your personal best in leading others?

Three decades later, the model continues to prove its effectiveness as a clear, evidence-based path to achieving the extraordinaryfor individuals, teams, organizations, and communities. It turns the abstract concept of leadership into easy-to-grasp practices and behaviors that can be taught; anyone who is willing to step up and accept the challenge to lead can learn them. The model is supported by a core philosophy arising from ongoing research and is founded on these beliefs:

• Leadership is everyones business.
• Leadership is learned.
• Leadership is a relationship.
• Leadership development is self-development.
• Leadership is an ongoing process.
• Leadership requires deliberate practice.
• Leadership is an aspiration and a choice.
• Leadership makes a difference.

We highly recommend you have your students read The Student Leadership Challenge book to deepen their understanding of The Five Practices by learning about other students who demonstrate the leadership behaviors embedded in the model. The book offers evidence from our research and that of others to support our core philosophy that leadership is everyones business. It provides case examples of young people who demonstrate each practice and prescribes specific recommendations on what people can do to make each practice their own and to continue their development as a leader. We have pulled quotations from some of these stories from students around the world and sprinkled them throughout The Student Leadership Challenge Facilitation and Activity Guide and Student Workbook and Personal Leadership Journal. People learn from stories, and the stories and quotations we have included are intended to be both inspiring and encouraging.