A person’s belief in his or her ability to be successful in managing his or her affairs affects not only how that person thinks, but also how he or she acts and feels. For this reason, adults or others who have some influence with young people should not deny these young people the opportunity to manage their affairs, but should support them as they accomplish their goals related self-management. There are several steps that youth leaders can take to support their young followers and help them to develop greater self-confidence.
Acknowledge Success
When followers achieve some element of success, it is important for leaders to recognize this. By helping young people to see themselves achieving something that they may have previously thought unachievable could help these young people to develop greater confidence in their ability to succeed. Youth leaders can help them see and recognize that they are achieving.
Be Good Examples
Youth leaders can be good examples. When they succeed, they can share their success with their followers. The objective would not be to boast and to show how much further they are than their followers, but to show their followers that with hard and dedicated work, followers could also achieve. In other words, youth leaders can provide a blueprint for their followers to guide their followers to success. Followers could look to youth leaders as examples of what they can also achieve.
Provide Much Needed Encouragement
Youth leaders can provide much needed encouragement to their followers. By saying a good word, expressing belief in the ability of the young person to do something special or achieve a goal, a youth leader can plant a seed of success in the mind of his or her follower. This word of encouragement could echo long after the leader is gone. It could help a young person to remember that someone believes that he or she has what it takes to accomplish a particular goal.
Leaders Can Help Alleviate Stress
Young people often experience a variety of moods and a great amount of stress. These can have a depressing effect on how they feel about themselves and their ability to achieve goals. Recognizing this, leaders can aspire to relieve the stress their young followers may be experiencing. This, in turn, would help their followers to maintain positive image of their ability to achieve goals.
Works for Formal and Informal Leaders
While formal youth leaders can help their young followers to develop greater self-confidence, this is also true for informal youth leaders, such as older siblings and friends. All young people have others who look up to them in one way or another, and this can make a notable impact on other young people with whom they interact on a regular basis.
Ways of Interacting with Followers
Therefore, by showing empathy, demonstrating good work ethic, being authentic and patient, youth leaders could impress on followers that followers can achieve their best and reach their goals. Leaders must also ensure that even while encouraging and supporting their followers, they allow their followers to be self-determining.
Israelin Shockness at www.successfulyouthliving.com and at www.successfulyouthlivingblog.com.
