9 Leadership Skills we teach at Jr Leadership Academy

At Jr Leadership Training Camp, we teach leadership through a process boys have to see by example and practice on their peers.

Here are the Leadership Principles we teach:

A good leader is one who takes responsibility for the outcome at the end, no matter what the result. He always gives the glory to God and his team.

  • In the end, it’s the leader’s “fault” if the group succeeds or fails at a task.
    • The leader doesn’t take failure as criticism but sees it as an opportunity to grow and learn how not to do things.
    • He’s highly aware that he cannot operate without his team and always gives them the glory.

God has given everyone unique abilities – they are wonderfully and fearfully made. The job of the leader is to draw from the strengths of the individuals on his team.

  • Talent is always seen as a gift from God and that we all have talents we need to apply correctly in the right environment.
    • Team members needs to be given the opportunity to try – failure is an opportunity to learn, and is a growth experience we all need to embrace
    • You don’t have to be the “best” at something to be useful, having a positive attitude is more important.
    • Others see value in the abilities you may think are not important.

Leaders in the church need to know their role in helping the Pastor. They need to know how to act, and how to build relationships with others as they disciple them to be Christ-followers.

  • Examine your interests and talents. Find ways they can be applied in ministry and discuss developing them with your Pastor.
    • Always think of ways you can mentor and teach others in the role you have, thus growing your ministry team.
    • Ask for feedback and direction from those that mentor you; as well as those you mentor. Listen and adapt to become even better.

Spiritual leaders read the Bible and pray every day. We nurture that habit at JTC.

  • The students are given a devotional booklet they start at camp and continue using at home.
    • Every morning starts with quiet time alone under a tree
    • Make this the best time of the day – your spot, your favorite hot drink, a good devotional guide and the Bible.

Lifelong friendships are formed at Academy. We are a band of brothers and love for our team and uphold for Royal Ranger Pledge.

  • The Ranger Pledge binds us to “…serve God, our church and fellow man, honor the Ranger Code, and the make the golden rule, our daily rule”. When we examine the Pledge and code, it teaches us Biblical principles that make us extraordinary men. We hold each other accountable to be Christlike Leaders.
    • We show love and respect to all, and treat every member of our patrol as an inner circle of friends. We are proud of our patrol name and the principles it stands for.
      • Our patrol yell highlights the principles our patrol stands for
      • We wear the patrol t-shirt with pride as it reminds us of the love we have for the brothers in our patrol

Good leaders encourage instead of telling. Peers never get told, they are asked appropriately.

  • You don’t have the authority to tell your peers what to do. If you yell or command volunteers at your church, you’ll never be put in a role of leadership! Instead, you must learn skills to encourage people to use their talents to help the team achieve a specific goal.

The Patrol Leader humbles himself to serve his patrol. He doesn’t do the task at hand, instead he is always thinking a few steps ahead, anticipating future needs and gathers the resources before the members may need them.

  • Doing a task yourself may be quicker, but you are robbing your team members an opportunity to shine.
    • Allowing others to do it gives them a chance to try and you a chance to help them succeed, if they need your assistance. Eventually your team will be trained “experts” that can repeat the task way more efficiently than you ever could alone.
    • It frees you up to help or observe your team members, anticipating their needs and progress.
    • Resources need to be available before the team member needs them. The leader is ultimately responsible for planning ahead and making sure the members’ needs have been anticipated.

When briefing his team for a task, the leader only gives his main vision (“I have a dream”) and lets the members execute that vision. The assistant Patrol Leader listens to ideas and determines the best course of action.

  • Long instruction is not necessary. Share the overall goal of the task and trust your members to use their talents to determine the best course of action. They may not do it like you would have done it. Recognize that their method may be better and give them full credit for reaching the team goal.
    • Never yell directions to the whole group. Instead, call your officers and experts to a mini-meeting.
    • The leader gives credit to his officers in front of the whole group.

Every member has talents to contribute. Leaders (Assistant Patrol Leaders) pick the right person with the most suited talents for the job and puts him in charge.

  • Every boy needs to be set up to succeed. By building relationships with members and doing activities together, leaders learn to pick the “best man for the job”, trusting him to do it at the best of his ability.

Ideal scenario example, set up a campsite:

At Academy we teach leadership through a process boys have to see by example and practice on their peers. Here are the Leadership Principles we teach:

A good leader is one who takes responsibility for the outcome at the end, no matter what the result. He always gives the glory to God and his team.

  • In the end, it’s the leader’s “fault” if the group succeeds or fails at a task.
    • The leader doesn’t take failure as criticism, but sees it as an opportunity to grow and learn how not to do things.
    • He’s highly aware that he cannot operate without his team, and always gives them the glory.

God has given everyone unique abilities – they are wonderfully and fearfully made. The job of the leader is to draw from the strengths of the individuals on his team.

  • Talent is always seen as a gift from God and that we all have talents we need to apply correctly in the right environment.
    • Team members needs to be given the opportunity to try – failure is an opportunity to learn, and is a growth experience we all need to embrace
    • You don’t have to be the “best” at something to be useful, having a positive attitude is more important.
    • Others see value in the abilities you may think are not important.

Leaders in the church need to know their role in helping the Pastor. They need to know how to act, and how to build relationships with others as they disciple them to be Christ-followers.

  • Examine your interests and talents. Find ways they can be applied in ministry and discuss developing them with your Pastor.
    • Always think of ways you can mentor and teach others in the role you have, thus growing your ministry team.
    • Ask for feedback and direction from those that mentor you; as well as those you mentor. Listen and adapt to become even better.

Spiritual leaders read the Bible and pray every day. We nurture that habit at JTC.

  • The students are given a devotional booklet they start at camp and continue using at home.
    • Every morning starts with quiet time alone under a tree
    • Make this the best time of the day – your spot, your favorite hot drink, a good devotional guide and the Bible.

Lifelong friendships are formed at Academy. We are a band of brothers and love for our team and uphold for Royal Ranger Pledge.

  • The Ranger Pledge binds us to “…serve God, our church and fellow man, honor the Ranger Code, and the make the golden rule, our daily rule”. When we examine the Pledge and code, it teaches us Biblical principles that make us extraordinary men. We hold each other accountable to be Christlike Leaders.
    • We show love and respect to all, and treat every member of our patrol as an inner circle of friends. We are proud of our patrol name and the principles it stands for.
      • Our patrol yell highlights the principles our patrol stands for
      • We wear the patrol t-shirt with pride as it reminds us of the love we have for the brothers in our patrol

Good leaders encourage instead of telling. Peers never get told, they are asked appropriately.

  • You don’t have the authority to tell your peers what to do. If you yell or command volunteers at your church, you’ll never be put in a role of leadership! Instead, you must learn skills to encourage people to use their talents to help the team achieve a specific goal.

The Patrol Leader humbles himself to serve his patrol. He doesn’t do the task at hand, instead he is always thinking a few steps ahead, anticipating future needs and gathers the resources before the members may need them.

  • Doing a task yourself may be quicker, but you are robbing your team members an opportunity to shine.
    • Allowing others to do it gives them a chance to try and you a chance to help them succeed, if they need your assistance. Eventually your team will be trained “experts” that can repeat the task way more efficiently than you ever could alone.
    • It frees you up to help or observe your team members, anticipating their needs and progress.
    • Resources need to be available before the team member needs them. The leader is ultimately responsible for planning ahead and making sure the members’ needs have been anticipated.

When briefing his team for a task, the leader only gives his main vision (“I have a dream”) and lets the members execute that vision. The assistant Patrol Leader listens to ideas and determines the best course of action.

  • Long instruction is not necessary. Share the overall goal of the task and trust your members to use their talents to determine the best course of action. They may not do it like you would have done it. Recognize that their method may be better and give them full credit for reaching the team goal.
    • Never yell directions to the whole group. Instead, call your officers and experts to a mini-meeting.
    • The leader gives credit to his officers in front of the whole group.

Every member has talents to contribute. Leaders (Assistant Patrol Leaders) pick the right person with the most suited talents for the job and puts him in charge.

  • Every boy needs to be set up to succeed. By building relationships with members and doing activities together, leaders learn to pick the “best man for the job”, trusting him to do it at the best of his ability.

Ideal scenario example: Instructing to set up a campsite:

  1. The Patrol Advisor calls the entire patrol to line up at attention. This is the only time he yells: “<Patrol Name>, FALL IN!”
  2. He shares his goal: Camp is running a model campsite competition and I believe you guys can win it. In order to do so, you need a safe cut and chop area, a well-thought-out kitchen area, firepit and you need to decide where the tents will be pitched.
  3. He gives a brief encouraging talk for why he believes in his members. “You have done this very well before, but remember, the competition is fierce. You guys know each other’s strengths and abilities, here’s your chance to bring those out to shine!
  4. He then delegates specific tasks to his officers. “Patrol leaders and assistant patrol leaders join me for a mini-meeting when we dismiss.
  5. Before he dismisses the group, he instructs the group to take care of a task when he wants them back: “the rest of you, get your personal kit, the kit belonging to the guys I called for the mini-meeting, and meet me back here at 1:30 pm sharp. <Patrol name> DISMISSED.
  6. The mini-meeting allows the leader to delegate specific tasks to his officers based on their individual expertise. He allows time for questions. “Sam, you’re in charge of the kitchen. Make sure you dig a fire pit and have plenty of firewood. Paul, set up the Cut and Chop area, you are also responsible for ensuring all safety rules are followed throughout camp (this implies any inappropriate behavior is Paul’s “fault”, he owns it). Jason, you’re on tents. Have your guys pitch them in a straight line and make sure they are kept clean, there’s an inspection every morning. Any questions?
  7. He allows his officers time to plan: “You guys have 5 minutes before the rest of the group returns. Use that time to determine your site layout and check that you have everything you need. If you’re missing something, send one of your guys to ask me.”
  8. When the group returns he calls them to attention and assigns members to his officers and allows them to take the lead of their sub-groups: “When we dismiss, you three guys go with Sam; he is in charge of the kitchen and making sure we have firewood. You two are with Paul, he is in charge of building and maintaining a safe Cut and Chop area and will report any unsafe behavior to me. Let’s not have anyone lose a corner of their Cut and Chop card this camp, Paul. The rest of you are going to put up tents with Jason. He will be checking that you keep your tent neat for inspection.
  9. Issues are addressed by calling the officer over for a brief discussion as the members continue with the task: “Sam, get one of your crew to put the firewood under the tarp I brought you. It’s going to rain tonight.”
  10. Commanders always discuss changes before they instruct the group to ensure the boys see men as a solid, decisive unit. We never want to see a leader change his mind while addressing the group.
  11. At the next patrol line up, officers are praised and their authority is reinforced: “Sam, I want to congratulate you and your team for a very good kitchen. There’s plenty of firewood and it’s under a tarp to stay dry. I’m sure the model campsite judges are going to like that!” Similarly, the other officers and their teams are praised, and members are reminded of the responsibilities they were given.

About Jody Smith

As Communications Coordinator, I maintain the web site and send out email promotions for the district. I get the inside scoop at the National LEAD conference, I'm in FCF, teach JTC/AJTC and practice on the Discovery Rangers class I teach at Bridge Church, Waukesha.