Developing our Future Leaders – Leah Sier

Scouting is all about Young People and giving them #SkillsForLife while developing active global citizens. Those of us around the Scout Network age (18 – 25) are the current and future leaders, but where is our development? Becoming the best versions of ourselves and truly understanding ourselves better is key to developing us for tomorrow.

We, at ScoutsCymru, have designed a Leadership Development Programme for Young People aged 16-25 that will develop young leaders and start them on a personal development journey. It is designed and delivered by Young People and has 2 main parts to it, the 1) Introductory Event and the 2) Award.

• Introductory Event: a weekend of learning, understanding, and networking. There are 3 core parts to the even, with sessions focussed on
  1. Learning about Self (e.g. Mindset, Wellbeing, and Emotional Intelligence). Participants are encouraged to better understand themselves in terms of how they work and about their strengths and weaknesses.
  2. Learning about Others: where participants will see how they relate to others and fit into the world.
  3. Applying these Skills and tools to Scouting and your life. We will look at the different roles and paths in Scouting, how to apply Scouting experiences externally, and start looking at goal setting.

• Award: Following from the introductory event, participants will then undertake a carefully designed Award over 3-18 months to promote personal development and encourage further learning. The Award is still being developed but will be 3-tired: Bronze, Silver, and Gold, with a set number of challenges completed at each stage. The challenges will be based on the 3 topics of 1) Learning about Self, 2) Learning about Others, and 3) Applying Skills, and will be personal to the individual, based on based on the experience level, ability, and interest. Participants will be supported to pursue areas they are interested and to take active leadership roles in Scouting.

By the end of this Leadership Development Programme, Young People will feel confident in what they are doing and what they value in life, be passionate about their roles in Scouting and in society and understand how to be the best versions of themselves. We are developing the leaders of the future, giving Young People experiences and skills earlier to enable them to achieve what they want to achieve.

Due to COVID, this Programme is completely virtual (for now), an essential part of 2020 that allows more people to participate the Programme. In the future, a blended approach of face-to-face and virtual will be considered.

We have just run our very first Pilot Event on the 24-25^th October for 8 fantastic Young People from all over Wales, which was incredibly successful. They got to learn more about themselves, network with others from across the country, and are motivated to take on the challenges. I am really excited about what is next for our current participants and future ones!

16-25 and missed out on the Pilot but want to be involved at the next event? Great! Keep an eye out for more information or get in contact directly (email below) to express your interest.

Leah Sier

Trustee, ScoutsCymru

Email: leah.sier@scoutscymru.org.uk