PUTTING RESEARCH INTO PRACTICE
For Student Leaders
Beyond the Leadership Title identified patterns in the experiences of student leaders and offers 12 recommendations for strengthening student leadership. This page looks at what those findings and recommendations could mean if you’re a student leading a club, team, organization, project, or other group.
The answers draw on what student leaders shared in the survey, the leadership programs and resources I reviewed for the report, and our own experience in student leadership and school and district governance. Some questions go beyond what the research directly examined, so we’ve tried to distinguish between what the research found and practical ideas that might help.
Two Questions for Advisors
Do I have the support I need to lead well?
Think about whether you understand what’s expected of you, have ways to plan and keep track of work, know who you can turn to for help, and have the information you need from the students who led before you. If something is missing, you don't necessarily have to wait for someone else to fix it. You can ask for the support you need.
Am I getting opportunities to lead?
Look beyond your title at what you actually get to do. Are you taking responsibility for important work, making decisions, solving problems, working with other students, and learning from what goes well and what doesn't? A leadership position can also be an opportunity to ask for greater responsibility as you become ready for it.
Questions & Answers
-
Don’t feel like you need to change everything right away. Start by understanding the role. Talk with the previous student leader and your advisor about what you’re responsible for, what’s already in progress, important dates you need to know, and any problems or unfinished work you may be taking on.
Then figure out how you’re going to keep track of everything. A calendar, shared document, task list, or another simple system can help you see what needs to happen, when it needs to happen, and who’s responsible for it.
Once you understand the role and what’s already happening, you can start thinking about what you might want to improve. You don’t need to have everything figured out on your first day.
-
This was one of the challenges that came through clearly in the student survey. Delegating something doesn’t necessarily mean it will get done.
One thing that helps is being really clear about what needs to happen, who’s responsible for it, and when it’s due. It’s also better to check in before the deadline than to find out afterward that something never got done.
If someone doesn’t follow through, try to find out what happened before assuming they just didn’t care. Maybe they weren’t clear about what they were supposed to do, they took on too much, or they simply forgot. Then you can figure out what needs to happen next.
I think this is one of the harder parts of student leadership. You’re often asking friends and classmates to do things, and you don’t necessarily have any real authority over them. Learning how to set expectations, follow up, and have those sometimes awkward conversations is part of learning how to lead.
-
First, think about whether you’re actually giving other people meaningful things to do. Sometimes it feels easier to do something yourself because you know it will get done, and it will probably get done the way you want it.
Instead of asking people to help with small pieces of something you’re still managing, try giving someone responsibility for something they can actually own. Be clear about what needs to get done and when, but give them some room to figure out how to do it.
Delegating can feel less efficient at first, especially when you know you could probably do something faster yourself. But part of leading a group is learning that you don’t have to be the person who does everything. Sometimes your job is to help other people take responsibility and get things done too.
-
This can be especially difficult because you’re leading peers, not employees. The person you need to hold accountable might also be your friend or someone you see in class every day.
Try talking with them directly before assuming they just don’t care. Ask what’s getting in the way, explain what the group needs from them, and figure out what they can realistically commit to doing next. If the problem keeps happening or you’re not sure how to handle the conversation, your advisor can help you think through what to do.
Holding someone accountable doesn’t have to mean being confrontational. Sometimes it just means being willing to have a conversation you’d rather avoid. Part of leading is making expectations clear and addressing problems instead of quietly letting the same people keep picking up the unfinished work.
-
If you want more responsibility, it helps to show that you’re ready to take it on. Follow through on what you’ve already agreed to do, plan ahead, and when you bring a problem to your advisor, try to bring a possible solution too.
Then ask. You might offer to run the next meeting, take responsibility for an upcoming project, make a particular decision, or coordinate a group of students. Being specific about what you’d like to take on can make the conversation easier.
There will probably be some things your advisor has to handle because of school rules, safety, finances, or other adult responsibilities. But there may also be things an adult has always done simply because that’s how your organization has always worked. You won’t necessarily know which is which until you ask.
-
It can be tempting to just move on, especially if something didn’t go the way you hoped. But it’s worth taking a few minutes to think about what happened.
After an event, meeting, project, or difficult situation, ask yourself a few questions: What worked? What didn’t? Why? What would I do differently next time?
You can also ask your advisor or another student for feedback. Reflection doesn’t have to be formal or take very long. What matters is figuring out what you can learn from the experience and what you want to do differently the next time you lead.
-
One thing I learned through this research is that there are a lot of leadership opportunities students may not know exist. If your organization is connected to a state or national organization, it may offer conferences, officer training, leadership programs, competitions, or other resources specifically for student leaders.
Ask your advisor what your organization is connected to and what opportunities are available. If your group isn’t part of a larger organization, you can also look for leadership programs or conferences where you can meet and learn from student leaders outside your school.
I think there’s a lot you can learn just from seeing how other students lead. Some of the best ideas for your own organization may come from finding out how students somewhere else approach the same challenges you’re dealing with.
-
This is an excellent final question for the student Q&A. The substance feels very aligned with Natalya’s perspective. I’d mainly soften the opening command and make the ending a little less like a formal leadership principle.
How will I know whether I’ve become a better leader?
I wouldn’t measure it only by whether your organization had a successful year. Think about what you can do now that was difficult when you started. Maybe you’re more comfortable running a meeting, delegating work, making a decision, dealing with disagreement, asking for help, or figuring out what to do when something goes wrong.
You can also look at the people around you. Are other students taking more responsibility? Have you helped someone else become more confident? Will the next student leader inherit an organization that’s a little easier to lead because of something you created or improved?
To me, becoming a better leader isn’t just about getting better at doing things yourself. It’s also about helping other people contribute, leaving something better than you found it, and making it a little easier for the next person to lead.
A Practical Place to Start
You don't need to become a completely different leader at once. Think about the leadership role you have now and identify one thing you need more support with and one thing you'd like to take more responsibility for. Talk with your advisor or another student leader about both, and choose one change to try.