How Teens Develop Leadership

This post was co-authored by Dayna O.H. Walker and Ronald E. Riggio.

In a recent publication with our colleagues, Eric Middleton and Rebecca (Becky) Reichard, we explored how adolescents and young adults develop as leaders. In this research, published in the Journal of Leadership and Organizational Studies, we followed the same individuals from age 12 to age 38. We looked at two important variables: leadership roles that these individuals occupied, both as teens and adults; and, whether the research participants held “leader identities” (whether they viewed themselves as being a leader).

It is generally believed that to be a leader as an adult, one must take on leadership roles early in life. Interestingly, we found that whether someone takes on leadership roles in high school does not necessarily predict whether they hold leadership roles at age 29. However, those who held leadership roles when they were young adults were more likely to hold leadership roles a decade later. What was critically important, however, was considering one's own identity to be that of a leader. When our study participants had a strong leader identity, they tended to view leadership as personally relevant and meaningful. That was related to them holding leadership roles as adults, both in their 20s and their 30s.

What these results tell us is that leader development is a lifelong process that includes both holding leadership roles and having an “internal” leader identity. Possessing a leader identity and holding leadership roles seem to work together.

What are the implications for leadership development?

If we are to be successful in developing the next generation of leaders, there is benefit in focusing not only on having young people take on leadership roles, but in encouraging youth to develop leader identity – to see themselves as embodying good and effective leadership. An example of this is a local program here in a lower socioeconomic area in Southern California that encourages youth who are tempted to join gangs to take on leadership roles in the community and self-identify as leaders who can help benefit their community. Programs such as these focus on the importance of having positive role models to serve as mentors/coaches and fostering positive leader self-identities.

An interesting aspect of our Fullerton Longitudinal Study program, which began in 1978 by studying one-year-olds and their families, is that the participants are “everyday” individuals. So, our leadership research examines a cross-section of people, some of which develop and attain leadership positions and others who do not. This is important for understanding how childhood and adolescent experiences contribute to those who ascend to high-level positions of leadership. We look forward to continuing this research into mid- and late adulthood.