Section 2 EO M203.02 – DISCUSS THE PRINCIPLES OF LEADERSHIP

Leadership is a demonstrable skill. This means it can be displayed and observed. Leadership can be learned and the skills involved can be improved with practice. Within leadership there are set of principles that may be used to improve leadership ability.

Leadership is influence.

The ability to influence others is fundamental within the leadership process. Everyone influences someone. People are influenced by those around them on a daily basis: friends, family, teachers, newsmakers, athletes, etc. all influence others. In turn, those same people are influenced.

There are many people who use their influence in a positive manner and while doing so help their community, their school, their family, and the world around them. There are some people who use their influence in a negative manner and while doing so do not help anyone including themselves.

Qualities of leadership are learned and practiced, therefore improving your ability to lead may create opportunities in life. Throughout the Cadet Program, cadets may be given many occasions to lead. Success in a leadership role may lead to greater leadership opportunities with bigger challenges, more responsibility, rewards, etc.

Ask cadets what occupations they know of in which leadership skills would be an asset.

When he was seven, Simon Jackson’s parents took him from his home in Vancouver, British Columbia to Yellowstone National Park in the United States. Ever since then he has been fascinated with bears. “I came to realize that humans had an option - we had the power to destroy or preserve these magnificent monarchs of the wilderness,” says Simon. He set up a lemonade stand in grade two and raised $60 to protect grizzly bears. A few years later Simon heard about Kermode bears. “I have followed a dream to ensure wild bears a wild place for generations to come.” Simon Jackson is one of the few people to have seen the white Kermode or Spirit bear. If things go his way, Simon won’t be the last. Simon is doing all he can to save these rare bears from becoming extinct. Loggers want to take trees from the ancient rainforest where they live. Simon has been trying to save the bears for years now. Simon speaks at schools to spread the word about the bears. He persuaded 700 kids to write letters asking the BC government to keep logging companies out of the bear’s habitat. In 1996, the government received more letters about the Kermode bear than any other preservation issue. Simon also started the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition. “Many people ask me why I chose to campaign for the future of the spirit bear rather than other endangered animals such as the panda or the elephant,” Simon explains. “As I saw it, the spirit bear was as unique to the world as the panda bear is to China and lived only in my home province. This bear, I thought, deserved our admiration, respect and most of all, our protection. I knew I had to help.” Simon works with naturalist Jane Goodall, scientist David Suzuki, Native Leader Chief Leonard George and artist Robert Bateman. All of them are trying to save the last of about 100 Kermode bears which live around the Terrace area of BC and Princess Royal Island. So far, the support from tens of thousands of people from around the world helped to protect 135 000 hectares from loggers. Simon hopes the Spirit Bear Youth Coalition will be able to protect the remaining 125 000 hectares for the Kermode bears. “It is like ripples in a pond. If I can get through to one person, that person will get to another,” he says. “That is how issues are won.” Time magazine named Simon Hero of the Planet – one of six young people selected from around the world in their Spring 2000 edition.

Craig Kielburger was born 17 December 1982 in Thornhill, Ontario, and is an accomplished child rights advocate and leadership specialist, an award-winning author and a popular speaker. He is the founder of Free The Children, the world’s largest network of children helping children through education, and the co-founder of Leaders Today, the world’s top youth leadership training organization. When Craig was 12, he was shocked to learn about the murder of a child labourer-turned-child rights activist. Eager to take action, he established Free The Children to help free children from poverty, exploitation and powerlessness. The organization began as a small group of classmates and quickly evolved into an international phenomenon. Under Craig’s leadership, Free The Children has now changed the lives of more than one million young people around the world. The organization has built more than 450 primary schools, providing daily education to more than 40 000 children. Free The Children’s many accomplishments in the areas of education, alternative income, health care, water and sanitation provision and peace building have earned three Nobel Peace Prize nominations and facilitated high profile partnerships with organizations such as the United Nations and Oprah’s Angel Network. Convinced of the importance of leadership development in empowering youth, Craig co-founded Leaders Today in 1999. Leaders Today empowers young people through leadership education, providing them with the inspiration and tools to affect positive social change. The organization delivers one-of-a-kind local and international training experiences, reaching more than 350 000 youth every year. Craig has travelled to more than 50 countries, visiting underprivileged children and speaking out in defence of children’s rights. An internationally renowned speaker, Craig frequently addresses business groups, government bodies, educators, unions and students. A sought-after speaker, he has shared the podium a number of times with former U.S. president Bill Clinton, as well as with such world renowned leaders as Nelson Mandela, Queen Noor, Archbishop Desmond Tutu and the Dalai Lama. Craig has shown the world that no one is ever too young to make a difference. His work has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, CNN, CBC, BBC, 60 Minutes and profiled in The Economist, Time and People magazines and numerous newspapers.

GreenKids was established during 1990-1991 school year by the sixth grade students in Lafayette Regional School in rural Franconia, New Hampshire. It started as a part of an integrated subject, Critical Skills L.B.R.P. (Learning By Real Problems). The students knew of an absence of children’s environmental projects in New England and they wanted to alleviate the problem of the environment. The first group of students, First Generation GreenKids, brainstormed and came up with a list of goals that they hoped to achieve during the school year. Goals included establishing the group, writing a Book of Issues, For Kids by Kids, having it published, writing quarterly newsletters, promoting recycling and responsible environmental attitudes throughout the area and finally, showing that adults will listen to the opinions of children when their opinions are presented intelligently. These lofty goals might seem impossible for a group of 11 and 12 year olds, but through hard work and empowerment they realized all but one of their goals: that of getting their book published. The First Generation succeeded in producing a quality newsletter, and parts of it were featured in the quarterly newsletter of the New Hampshire Wildlife Federation. They researched, edited, and entered their product into a word processor, developed a group of subscribers, and helped pay for materials. The book was based on environmental issues which they felt were very important. They followed the same processes in publishing the book as they did in creating the newsletter. Their work was high quality. GreenKids also had the opportunity to visit other schools to talk about their experiences and to help start their own activist groups. Letters were written to persons in power to expand recycling. But the year was ending and the completed, illustrated book was not yet published. GreenKids Second Generation decided to make these goals its yearly objective: keep the newsletter going; get the school to recycle; buy trees for all nursery school and Kindergarten through grade 5 students; promote community cleanups; and raise funds to publish the book.

In 1989, Melissa Poe, a fourth grader in Nashville, Tennessee, founded a children’s environmental club called Kids For A Clean Environment or Kids F.A.C.E. In three years the club had grown from a group of six within her elementary school to a positive, proactive international youth organization with more than 200 000 members. She also wrote for the newsletter she created for her club, which had a worldwide distribution of 2 million. In August 1989, Melissa began an ongoing campaign to encourage children and adults to become involved with the protection of our natural resources. Kids F.A.C.E. started when Melissa wrote a letter to the President of the United States. Dissatisfied with the President’s initial response, she decided to take action on her own. In January of 1990, she appeared on NBC’s Today show after writing a letter requesting an appearance. In April of 1990, 250 billboards were placed nationwide with her letter to the President. She also began speaking to encourage children to get involved, and she established chapters of Kids F.A.C.E. In May 1990, she wrote a letter to Wal-Mart Corporation asking for help for her club, and in November 1990, Melissa created her club newsletter: Kids F.A.C.E. Illustrated. In October 1991, she drafted the Children’s Forest concepts with another organization and prepared and circulated petitions. In September 1992, she launched Kids F.A.C.E. Save-A-Tree project with tree-planting programs. In January 1993, she created the design for International Kid’s Earth Flag and began the campaign to get kids to help make the flag. Kids For A Clean Environment is an international children’s environmental organization whose purpose is to sponsor educational, community-wide programs in order to further children’s involvement in environmental causes; to present information to children concerning the environment and the detrimental effects of pollution and waste on the environment; and to sponsor membership organizations designed to heighten awareness of hazards to the environment and ways of curbing such hazards.