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Youth Organizations, Activism, and Phenomenon
Nov 1st
Youth activism as a social phenomenon in the United States truly became defined in the mid- to late-nineteenth century when young people began forming labor strikes in response to their working conditions, wages, and hours. Child laborers in the coal mines of Appalachia began this trend, with newspaper carriers, soon following. These actions isolated youths’ interests in the popular media of the times, and separated young people from their contemporary adult labor counterparts.
This separation continued through the 1930s, when the American Youth Congress presented a “Bill of Youth Rights” to the US Congress. Their actions were indicative of a growing student movement present throughout the US from the 1920s through the early 1940s. The 1950s saw the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee bring young people into larger movements for civil rights. This led to the outbreak of youth activism in the 1960s.
Source: Wikipedia.org
It is said that the future of the world is left in the hands of the youth. More than ever, young people are using the Internet as a tool for advancing social change. Recently, a coalition of youth-oriented nonprofits got together and demanded that they have had enough of extremism worldwide, and are now putting those who use violence as a method on notice.
Digital Tools Being Used: Facebook, blogs, video, wikis
What Are They Doing: Pioneering leaders of youth movements from around the world, and other prominent attendees, met for the first time at the Alliance of Youth Movements Summit in New York City last week to share and discuss how to change the world by building powerful grassroots movements. Their website features videos from how to launch a human rights blog to how to practice passive resistance. They are currently using their Facebook group to organize a worldwide march January 17, 2009 to protest the recent Mumbai terrorists attacks and all other forms of extremism.
Source: Digiactive.org
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Leaders aren’t born, they’re made
Nov 1st
They say there’s a sucker born every minute – but natural born leaders are much, much harder to come by. While leadership is often seen as an inherent quality, there are many learned techniques and skills that can improve the effectiveness of your leadership abilities.
If you’ve been put in charge of a team, whether it’s a couple of staff or an entire corporate division, an effective leader will know how to communicate with their team members and direct their operations in an efficient and strategic manner. Learn how leaders are made with some of these helpful suggestions:
Keep a level head - effective leadership is about steering and guiding your team to achieve your team goals. This means keeping a level head and staying calm even in the times of crisis. Be a good role model; by keeping a level head and maintaining a calm and confident demeanour – you’ll encourage your team to do the same and perform at their best.
Lead by example - an effective leader will only assign and delegate tasks that he or she is willing to do. Leaders provide their team with a vision and set the goals, but they will also need to work hard and contribute to the group’s efforts.
Give credit where credit is due – offer well deserved and immediate praise for a job well done. Your team members will work harder and be more committed to your vision if they feel that they are doing a good job. Be quick to praise and limit the amount of criticism. While you want your team to accept responsibility, you’ll be more effective as a leader for praising your staff when they handle a stuff-up well instead of laying the blame on your staff for causing it.
Communicate – from the beginning, you’ll be expected to keep the vision and drive your team to success. Like steering a ship through waters, good communication is vital to ensure your staff members are working together.
Delegate responsibilities – trust your staff to execute their assigned duties, but ensure that you are up to speed with where they’re at and offer any support that they may need. A good leader is always available to offer guidance, but individuals should be given the freedom to experiment and call their work their own.
When it comes to effective leadership, always have your team at the forefront of your mind. Leadership training courses can give you useful ideas and tips on motivation, team building and crisis management – by committing yourself to your team, you too can learn to be a great leader.
Seven habits of Highly Ineffective managers and how to avoid them!
Nov 1st
Who do you think would be the worst boss in the world to work for? Foul mouthed Gordon Ramsay, whose idea of constructive criticism is to chuck your work in the bin? Or perhaps it’s time wasting, attention seeking Michael Scott from The Office, who spends more time trying to get his employees to like him than running a business?
We all know what an ineffective manager is like, and how difficult it can be to work for one. However, once you’re on the other side of the fence, many of us realise that effective management is much more challenging than we had first envisioned. It’s okay to make mistakes – after all, managers aren’t super heroes, no matter what some may believe. However, get to know the signs of bad management and how to avoid the pitfalls:
Taking all the credit
Sure, as a manager you work hard and drive your team and that performance should be recognised. However, an effective manager distributes the credit and recognises the individual contributions of each team member. Be specific when you commend individuals for their work instead of passing it off as a generic “team effort”.
Buddying up with your employees
If you’ve been promoted to a new role, it’s hard to know how to handle previous relationships with your former colleagues. While the occasional after work drinks might be okay, a level of professional detachment will be needed in order for you to maintain your respect and position as a manager.
Being intimidated by your employees
Regardless of their age, experience or gender – an effective manager needs to manage all the members of the team. If you’re intimidated by one of your employees, you won’t be able to make demands on their performance which will reflect poorly on your ability to lead a team.
Not taking the blame
Even if he or she isn’t responsible for doing the actual work itself, a manager is held accountable for the performance of the entire team. Make note of where the weaknesses in your team are and think about how you can improve as a manager to minimise their effect.
Micro Managing
We all know about the micro managers – the ones that demand that every step of the project be done in a particular way, wants to approve every email that goes out and exactly when the staff takes a toilet break. Micro managers are often seen as a being “power hungry” looking to assert their authority at every turn. Leadership courses are helpful in learning how to assign tasks and hand out responsibility without micro managing.
Not chipping in
A manager needs to maintain a professional distance, but that’s no reason to not chip in. When the going gets tough, a good manager should be contributing to the long hours and working with the team to get the job done.
Getting employees to do your dirty work
You should never delegate a task that you yourself would be unwilling to complete. Always be there to offer support and guidance should your team have any questions or concerns about the job at hand.
New to management? Don’t make these rookies mistakes. Management training is an important part of learning to step up and into your new role.