I believe we are all leaders – there are always people around us watching what we do and possibly following our path – this might be our children, staff or team members or in the case of a young person – a younger sibling or young people in their school.
Being a leader comes naturally to the few but for the majority it develops through practice and hard graft. We learn from our mistakes, from being pushed into awkward or uncomfortable situations, confronted with difficult people or problems to resolve we’d rather not do!
Leadership is a vital skill and one of the founding principles of youth organisations since the early 20th century such as the Scouts, Guides and Cadets and DofE. In these spaces young people were given responsibility and opportunities to lead each other, to make tough decisions and to role model to younger children healthy values, to show empathy and nurture and to contribute to a healthy community culture.
Fast forward to 2025 and a world where being an influencer is more attractive than being a leader is there still a place for leadership? Absolutely! But what about young people in the care sector? They have often faced barriers to accessing leadership opportunities – through inconsistent attendance, struggling to engage, anxiety and low self confidence. They’ve often not been given the chance to develop those skills because they’ve got so many things going on in their lives and barriers to even being in the room.
We can’t ignore this backdrop and we shouldn’t underestimate the challenge but we must also not shy away from the impact leadership can have on their lives. At Ascent we are we are deeply committed to developing our young people and preparing them for life as independent adults. To do that we have to challenging young people to develop leadership and confidence. This might be by encouraging them to take part in a school play, learning an instrument, taking responsibility in a sports team or helping lead in planning a family activity.
At the root of this there is a challenge for us as foster carers, birth parents or mentors that we must keep believing in our young people – that when they fall down (and they will) they shall arise. We need to pick them up, encourage them to dust themselves off and go again. Its then that we help unlock the skills the talent and the potential that lies within them. If they can find self esteem purpose and fulfilment through positions of responsibility, however small, it will set a course for their lives which will go beyond surviving and take them to thriving.
In my own story I set up a youth charity in Croydon called Reaching Higher because I could see these opportunities were excluded from so many. The work took hold and it grew and is now led by a former beneficiary and a team of many former service users inspired to not just benefit from an organisation but get involved, take the lead and direct its future as it now supports thousands of young people. At Reaching Higher the mantra was and is to “challenge young people to be leaders of their own lives”. We lay that same challenge at Ascent.
In October 2024 six of our young people took part in a residential trip to Botswana, Africa. They spent time out of their comfort zone, they engaged in a totally different community, they took personal responsibility and they role modelled values to younger children – reading English with young children in a local school. These are life changing experiences.
But most importantly this is a a life changing message to each of our young people.
“You can make a difference!”
“You have something to give!”
“We see and believe in you as a leader!”
This message will set a course for their lives – to stretch for more. So lets keep cheering this generation on and lets keep developing leaders who have a far brighter future than they’ve ever imagined.
If you would like to find out more about fostering and the amazing difference you could make in a young persons life. Give usa call on 0203 757 0070 or click HERE to receive a call back. We’d be happy to answer any questions you may have on fostering and take you through the process.