Every semester, I start my leadership course with a discussion of values and their importance to leadership. I think it is important for our student leaders to clarify why they are part of our student government and more importantly how they should act everyday. I found a great article on the Under30 CEO site – http://under30ceo.com/definitive-guide-core-values/ that describes in detail the process of defining your core values. I asked my students to do this an individuals but we also did it as a group. I was really impressed with what my students leaders came up with for the values that guide our organization. Here is what they came up with:
1. Integrity: leading by example and being accountable for your actions. Practicing what you preach when no one is watching.
2. Building Community: working in the best interest of the group to make everyone feel welcome/accepted at our school.
3. Teamwork: is working well together through effective communication, cooperation, commitment, and respect.
I know that if all our student leaders buy in to these core values we will have a great year. I think this is a great exercise for leaders and organizations to do early on.
On a side note, shout out to my Mom who encouraged me to get this post done. Thank for following my blog Mom.