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document.write('<h2>Youth & Leadership</h2><p><strong><em>by <a target="_blank" href="http://www.parishwebmaster.com/services/authors/b');
document.write('io_jcorder.htm "><font color="#000000">Staff Writer</font></a></em></strong></p><P>There are many youth leadership prog');
document.write('rams currently being presented across the country.  The trend to grow leadership is something that has been going on in ');
document.write('the United States for a long time. Students can go to many different programs and learn many skills associated with lead');
document.write('ership, but are we any better off?  Do we have stronger leaders than we did forty years ago?</P><h3>The Leadership Cris');
document.write('is</h3><P>Many people feel there is a crisis in the area of effective leadership in many aspects of life.  Whether we a');
document.write('re referring to the lack of good leadership in government, Church, School, or even families, effective leadership is cri');
document.write('tical to everyone\'s future.  Yet there are still concerns that there are ineffective leaders in very important positions');
document.write(' making decisions.  These decisions have a great impact on many people.</P><P>We have seen in the past that when our le');
document.write('aders forget their mission and purpose it can create a very difficult situation.  When the focus of a leader is to estab');
document.write('lish or protect their position and power we run the risk of self-serving leaders.  Leadership is about pushing forward a');
document.write(' way in which people can live and prosper at a higher level.  We have seen ineffective leadership at the highest level o');
document.write('f our federal government down to the local level city officials.  We have seen it in our Church officials from certain B');
document.write('ishops to parish priests.  Decisions are being made that simply protect power and money over the well being of people.</');
document.write('P><P>Every year I spend a week with a group of high school teens who are growing into very effective leaders.  The most');
document.write(' effective teaching tool is how we model certain behaviors or attitudes.  During the annual Diocesan Youth Leadership Ca');
document.write('mp (DYLC), teens from all over the Diocese of Lansing, Michigan, are trained to take on more of a leadership role in the');
document.write('ir Churches.</P><h3>What I Learned At DYLC</h3><P>Leadership is a learned behavior.  Anyone who wants to study or trai');
document.write('n to be an effective leader can do so.  Knowledge and skill associated with leadership are something anyone can learn --');
document.write(' if they want to be a student of effective leadership.  You can learn how to effectively communicate; you can learn how ');
document.write('to work with all kinds of personalities; you can learn how groups work; but the most important thing to learn is that tr');
document.write('ue leaders are people who serve.  To be a person who wants to spend their life in true leadership means to be willing to');
document.write(' work to make this world a better place.</P><P>Then there is the whole reality of vision and purpose.  Vision and purpo');
document.write('se are very important to being a great leader.  The idea that people are natural born leaders is a myth.  People can be ');
document.write('extroverted, or have a pleasant voice or other raw gifts associated with leadership, but until they have a vision or hav');
document.write('e an attitude of service they are not going to rise to their potential.</P><h3>Servant Leaders</h3><P>Martin Luther Ki');
document.write('ng Jr. once said, &quot;Anyone can lead, because anyone can serve&quot;.  The truth is that an attitude of service is cr');
document.write('itical to effective and true leadership.  People who lead us through government positions or from a variety of other occ');
document.write('upations (including Church staff), must be people who are in it to make a difference, not merely for the paycheck.  Peop');
document.write('le who are in it for the money and the power are easy to spot, and so are the people who are leaders who want to serve. ');
document.write(' Those who want to serve are the ones who leave an imprint on our lives.</P><P>Each year at DYLC, I witness teens who d');
document.write('emonstrate a style of effective leadership that the world needs to model.  The focus of the teen team who plans the week');
document.write('-long event is to make sure that the participants have the best experience possible.  The team does this by modeling the');
document.write('mselves around the ideals of hard work, hospitality, serving the needs of the group being lead, and giving people the tr');
document.write('uth.  This group of very effective leaders accomplishes all of these with conviction and with humility.  And by the end ');
document.write('of the week they are exhausted because they have worked very hard.</P><P>Imagine a world where the leaders worked to se');
document.write('e to it that the needs of the people were served and all they craved from their role was satisfaction that they had made');
document.write(' a difference.  Imagine that service was the key ingredient to being that great leader, instead of the more common ingre');
document.write('dients of greed and manipulation.</P><h3>Leadership, Attitude, and Aptitude</h3><P>During the week-long DYLC event eac');
document.write('h year, over 100 youth and around 15 adults spend a week in DeWitt, Michigan, seeing that this kind of leadership can --');
document.write(' and does -- make a difference in the lives of others.  When the needs of the community are treated respectfully and tho');
document.write('ughtfully, as they are at DYLC, the potential of the group can be realized. When anyone (youth or adults) assumes signif');
document.write('icant roles of leadership, life can be different.  When people come first, things can change for the better.</P><P>This');
document.write(' world needs effective leaders, concerned about the needs of people.  Do you have the potential to lead others?  Are you');
document.write(' being called to take on leadership in some capacity?  Remember that if the attitude is within you, the skills can be le');
document.write('arned.</P><hr><h3>Life Applications:</h3><P>Do you consider yourself a leader or &quot;leadership material&quot;?<br>D');
document.write('o you believe that anyone can be trained to be an effective leader?<br>How do the teachings of Christ fit into the key i');
document.write('ngredients of effective leadership?</P><a href="http://www.parishwebmaster.com/cgi-bin/birdcast.cgi"><img border="0" src');
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