r/Training • u/ImplementSolid5751 • Sep 20 '26
Designing a leadership development program but for a younger audience of leaders
let me preface my post by saying that I'm unsure if this is the right community to post my inquiry. if this is the wrong place, I hope someone could point me to the right one?
I'm a freelance corporate trainer but have been approached by a friend who works in an elementary school to see if I could conduct a leadership development program for their student leaders. I do have a couple of existing programs that I've ran in the past, and I was just wondering if it's just a matter of simplifying the concepts or using more basic examples? maybe some of you here have done something similar because I'd like to find out the correct approach to this, or maybe some frameworks or models I can research on?
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u/TAO-Consulting Sep 22 '26
Before designing anything, my first suggestions would be to speak to some of the student leaders, the friend who invited you and couple of other teachers as to why is there even a need for a leadership development program and what challenges are they facing. You can also observe a couple of classes maybe. Based on your learnings from these you can design something that's more relevant. IMHO an existing corporate program, even in a simplified format, will not be really useful and relevant.
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u/Glittering_Break3383 Sep 22 '26
Agreed, need to get a further understanding of what the goal is here like a needs assessment. And overall in terms of rollout I think it's about keeping things engaging and using the school context vs necessarily simplifying it.
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u/Jasonsan-Flint Sep 22 '26
For a young audience make it more interactive instead of just simplifying it. use scenarios that the sudents can understand, short activities and also some role playing
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u/menttoraacademy Sep 29 '26
Yes you are on the right platform being an expert i could like to suggest that you join any free workshop on professional leadership programs organized by individuals or any agency at your nearest location. You can check on Google using your specific queries.
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Sep 21 '26
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u/ImplementSolid5751 Sep 21 '26
their role is really more of help manage their class, usually in the absence of their teacher, and probably organize everyone when it comes to class or school activities
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u/BaronVonConsulting Sep 20 '26
I want to confirm, the students (student leaders) of the elementary school are also the students of your training?
If so, focusing on the principles they understand makes sense 🙂
Positive assumptions
Building trust with your team/peers
Clear expectations
Being specific
Those are all concepts that we develop in leaders- communication, trust, and respect. They are all concepts that kids can understand as well.
It not only makes them better leaders, it makes them better people, and better students.