Adolescent Leadership Development

Abstract

This article reviews the literature on adolescent leadership development and connects the concept of leadership authenticity as a way to influence anti-social adolescent behavior for pro-social outcomes. Because adolescent leaders develop from both pro-social and anti-social constructs, educators must recognize the unique power of both leadership funnels. Pro-social leaders are inclusive and build affiliation, while anti-social leaders are exclusive and rely on power. Leadership studies overly focus on adult-level leadership development. This article centers on the idea that leadership development is essential at the adolescent level, and opportunities for productive adolescent leadership development research, though difficult, do exist. In this article a functional definition for authentic leadership is developed along with a proposed research framework with researchable variables for studying leadership authenticity in adolescents. A case for using an authentic leadership paradigm for helping adolescents build their own leadership attitudes, skills, and experiences is advanced. Finally a review of the processes whereby adolescent leaders are selected, and the existing leadership development solutions existing in the American high school setting are discussed.