Session aims:
- Analysis of participants' own responsibilities as a leader;
- Creating the prerequisites for the formation of a positive social responsibility among youth leaders.
Duration: 2 hours
The session leader encourages the participants to name those associations that occur to them regarding the word 'Responsibility,' noting them on a flipchart. When all participants have had their say, the trainer leads an analysis of the associations, grouping them into possible clusters, and recapitulating the understanding of the term 'responsibility' for the group as a whole.
A leader has to take responsibility because he, leading the group, answers not only for himself but for each member of the group, and for the realisation of the task that this group performs. Responsibility is the sign of a mature personality, and so this block is the most complex in all work with leadership potential, but one which allows us to realise that being a leader is not only a matter of attention, success and prestige, but also one of painstaking labour. In the following exercise, the participants thus try out for themselves the positions of the 'Leader' and the 'Led,' alternating between them during the course of the exercise, after which they will discuss the responsibility of leaders when playing the role of the 'leader,' and what is required of the leader in order to win the trust of the 'Led.'
The trainer then tells the group about the three levels of leadership (the micro (internal and situational), macro (tactical and strategic), and the meta (the legislative), carrying out a joint group analysis of the responsibilities of a leader in correspondence with these levels. Each analysis is reinforced with examples. After this, the participants move on to the aims of a leader, in which his responsibilities conclude, looking at what people expect in terms of the consequences of his actions and so forth.
On finishing the first part of the session, the students carry out an exercise to develop their responsibility — “I bear responsibility for...”
At the end of this exercise, the participants are set the home task, focusing on analysis of their leadership qualities, connected with the theme of responsibility.
In the second part of the session, a practice is held on the organisation and execution of the action “Give Somebody a Smile,” marking the International Day of the Smile.
The trainer tells the participants about the action, highlighting the basic steps that are necessary to carry it out in their institution, answering the questions of the participants.
Each team receives three copies of the methodological recommendations on organising and implementing this action.