Help: I’m a Student Leader
So I’m reading a book called Help: I’m a Student Leader: Practical Ideas and Guidance on Leadership by Doug Fields. It’s basically a book for youth to read about evolving into a student leader. Chris is having me type a summary of each chapter and comment on it for the rest of the summer, so I’ll start with the introduction.
The book began with this sentence: “Let me begin with a promise- if you read this book cover to cover, think about what you’ve read, and discuss the principles with other leaders, I promise you’ll never be the same.” Quite an optimistic outlook. Doug told his story on how he became a leader; when he was in 9th grade, his youth pastor asked him to go on a youth leadership retreat because he saw potential in Doug. After that, Doug says that his life was changed; now, he’s the director of youth something something at Saddleback Church, which is a mega church (for more information, Google it.)
After more explanation on what the book is, Doug asks us these questions:
Are you ready for this leadership trip?
Yes No
Do you consider yourself a student leader?
Yes No
What do you think? Are you a student leader? Do you want to become one? If you answered no to any of them, Doug responds with this:
If you have leaership potential, then
1. You have a relationship with God.
2. You have aheart and mind open to learning and growing.
3. You want to help others.`
4. You can handle being challenged.
5. You want your life to count for something.
NOW, does that describe you?
Yes No
Doug goes on to say that leadership isn’t about popularity, being cute, having charisma, or speaking in front of others. “If you want to serve God and have a heart that gets excited about helping others, then you’ve got what it take to be a leader.”
Before Chapter One begins, Doug asks one more thing of us: to write down our CURRENT definition of student leadership. He says that there is no correct answer, and that you shouldn’t worry about being “right.” At the end of the book, he’ll have us write down a new definition based of what we’ve learned, and to see if we’ve learned anything.
Give it a shot!
