Leadership in Armenia

So, I'm in Armenia for the month of July.  I'm currently sitting in a homestay with my co-leader from the Park School in Boston.  For those of you who don't know, I've spent four summers leading trips through the summer camp I attended and worked at through college.  The trips are called Travel and Service Programs, and I thought I'd take a moment to detail the leadership curriculum I've been working on with my group.

1.  At the beginning of the trip, participants write down their goals for the summer and self-identify with a range of leadership styles.  The goals are broken down into three individual goals and three group goals.  Sometime in the next few days, the leaders meet individually with each member of the trip and discuss the goals and possible ways to achieve them.  Included in their packet are ten leadership traits, adapted from a YMCA book on teaching leadership at camp, which range from Engagement to Shared Leadership to Initiative, among others.

2. Each participant is a Leader of the Day, or Co-Leader of the Day several times throughout the trip (the total number depends on math and the number of days the group is together).  My co and I, for the most part, refuse to answer questions about the day's itinerary and constantly direct the LOD to our host partner.  The LOD navigates foreign cities; arranges wake ups; coordinates groupings and community service responsibilities; debriefs service projects; leads Cabin Chat (a nightly reflection and question); meets and thanks any partners on behalf of the group.  As leaders, our goal is to do as little as possible in a whole group setting, stepping in only when safety or group dynamics require a more serious response than the LOD can handle.  We also have a twenty minute debrief each night with the day's LOD, followed by another meeting with the LOD for the following day to go over the itinerary and brainstorm.

3. Halfway through the trip, each participant will reevaluate their goals and set new ones in the same format, which is where the real power of the program lies.  Having seen each camper try a few different styles of leadership, we can effectively guide them to a pattern of best behavior for the remaining ten or twelve days in our twenty-thirty minute meeting.  We tell quiet leaders they need to spend more time building relationships, because that will be their strength when they're counselors.  We remind vocal leaders how to listen, another leadership skill in their packet.  And we encourage strong and effective leaders to observe other LODs carefully and analyze the way they do things to refine their style further. For a group of rising sophomores, their investment in the curriculum is surprising.  Being in a foreign country exaggerates their learning curve, but the gains are impressive nonetheless.

4. The final meeting is a time for participant reflection, coupled with our final thoughts, all of which we write and sign together.

I'm writing because I'm currently reading Flourish, by Martin Seligman, plus leading this trip.  Flourish is a step more detailed than Tough, and I'd love the chance to sit down with anyone in August and chew over a few ways to integrate Blair's leadership initiative, Seligman, and Tough.  Maybe I'll even make Armenian BBQ down at Gateway (FYI, Armenians are incredible people).

Enjoy the rest of the summer,

HSD

How Children Succeed - Interview with the author
Paul Tough gives an interview (about half hour) discussing the details of How Children Succeed from Toronto Public Television: http://www.thelavinagency.com/blog-education-speaker-paul-tough-on-not-treating-failure-as-a-disaster.html
The interview closely follows his book and expands a little on Tough's thoughts since he wrote the book. It is interesting that he now feels the most effective program included in the book is the OneGoal program, even though their data is incomplete (the students involved are only now college sophomores) and he spends more time in the book on some of the other programs.

This TED talk has always resonated with me... In our community, everyday leadership is part of who we are and what we do. Enjoy!
http://www.ted.com/talks/drew_dudley_everyday_leadership.html