Developing, Mentoring and Supporting Youth Leadership

Encouraging Skills Development

Presenter: Cornelius Williams, Professional Facilitator and Program Implementation Specialist,
PeerForward

Transcript

[TEXT: DEMOCRACY, PROSPERITY, HUMAN RIGHTS, EDUCATION,

SECURITY. A PRODUCTION OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE]

[TEXT: Cornelius Williams, Professional Facilitator and

Program Implementation Specialist, PeerForward Inc.]

My name is Cornelius Williams, and I'm a program manager for a nonprofit called PeerForward,
where we believe in a world where students have the power to dismantle systemic barriers to higher
education and level the playing field for all students, regardless of race or income. We know youth
can lift each other up to college and career success and lead change in their communities.

[TEXT: Developing, Mentoring and Supporting Youth Leadership: Encouraging Skills Development]

Welcome to Developing, Mentoring and Supporting Youth Leadership. This lesson is Encouraging
Skills Development.

According to the United Nations 2020 World Youth Report, the global youth population between
the ages of 15 and 24 is 1.21 billion or nearly 16% of the global population. UN projections
estimate that number will reach 1.29 billion by 2030 and almost 1.34 billion by 2050. So what can
you do as a young professional to help prepare youth in your community for the workforce and
adulthood?

[TEXT: LEARNING OBJECTIVES: ENCOURAGING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT

1. Examine best practices for skills development in youth.
2. Outline essential tools for youth to move into adulthood and employment.]

In this lesson, we will examine best practices for developing skills such as emotional intelligence,
communication, teamwork, leadership and project management in youth that are essential tools
needed as they move into adulthood and seek employment.

Here are four areas that will increase engagement and keep you focused on preparing for a
brighter future.
Developing soft skills.

In almost every experience when working with others, both in person or virtually, soft skills are
important if you want to be successful. Soft skills are personal habits that dictate how you
communicate and work with other people.

When working with youth, always be sure to model positive skills, such as asking for permission and
using effective communication before giving any feedback or advice. This will increase the chances
that the advice will be effectively received by your audience and increase their willingness to learn,
a valuable skill you’ll want to encourage.

If you want to increase the effectiveness of certain skills in youth, you can conduct real life scenario
exercises. For example, you can group individuals together and present them with a situation that
they may face in the workforce or community that would trigger their critical thinking, problem
solving and teamwork skills. Then have them share their answers and talk through what is the best
approach.

When working with youth, they often possess soft skills, but need to practice using them to increase
their effectiveness. So, I suggest creating a list of soft skills that you believe are necessary for young
professionals. Skills such as emotional intelligence, integrity, effective communication, teamwork,
critical thinking, organization and empathy.

Individuals who understand the importance of soft skills and especially emotional intelligence, which
is the ability to identify and manage the emotions of themselves and others, tend to be more
successful and effective leaders than those who don't.

An effective activity is to have your participants choose which skills that they’d like to develop or rate
the skills that they possess from most effective to least effective. This will allow you to focus on what
skills your youth wants to develop the most and use their strengths to help their weaknesses.

Developing hard skills.

In the workforce and adulthood, there is also a need for professional skills or hard skills, which are
gained through experience or formal training such as college and technical programs.

When working with youth and thinking about careers, have them discuss what skills do they possess
that make them a good fit. When I speak to youth about their future aspirations, I ask them what
qualifies an individual to work for their company or attain their career. Then we talk about who can
help them how can they acquire those same skills or experience to turn their dream into a reality?

For example, a technology support company is hiring individuals with specific skills and knowledge
about Adobe or the latest Microsoft Windows operating system. This knowledge base is considered
a professional skill and can be acquired through experience or training.

ENCOURAGING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT TRANSCRIPT - PAGE 2 OF 4

Some examples of other skills, valuable skills are the ability to speak multiple languages, graphic
design, communication, computer technology, data analysis, project management, web development
and marketing. Literally, anything that you have expertise in can be considered a hard skill. So
always reassure the youth that increasing their skills can set them apart from other applicants and
will make them more valuable to companies.

Developing a path to the future.

As our youth prepare for the future, some may become overwhelmed when thinking about where
they want to be in their career or the workforce and the skills that they have today. My advice is to
have them map out the steps that they need to take from what they want to be, one, five and ten
years from now. For some, the steps of their dreams are not as clear as others. For example, to
become a successful entrepreneur, there are many skills and lessons that you need to learn along the
way to be successful.

But when working with youth, I found success in having them research individuals who are where
they hope to be in life or their career and ask to interview them. This is called an informational
interview where you can ask about their journey and expertise as well as expose yourself to new
opportunities.

Self-advocacy and determination will open doors of opportunities that they may have never
imagined before.

Developing your voice.

As a mentor to young people, you are often exposed to the issues that they may face in their lives or
communities, and wonder how you can help. The answer is in the youth. What that means is if you
allow the youth a voice or seat at the table to discuss the issue and realize that they can be the
solution or the agent of change, then you activate their commitment to leading the vehicle of change
in the communities or their homes.

As youth become adults and move into the workforce, it is important to help them realize their power
of being solution-based thinkers. A project that can help build this skillset is to have a group of young
people write down a list of problems in their community and share them amongst the group. And
have the group choose three of the problems and label them one to three, with number one being
the most important and three least important. Then have them write down or think about what are the
root causes of the number one problem. After they identify the root problems, bring them together to
discuss solutions within their control that they can create to fix the problems. Also ask them to think
about who can help them solve this problem and what resources they may need to accomplish their
goals and solve their problem. This concept can be applied to issues within their lives, communities
and careers. And it's the strategy for activating engagement in youth.

As you continue to work with your community and with youth, something very important is to create
a common ground or connection with something that they can relate to. This will increase buy-in and
ENCOURAGING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT TRANSCRIPT - PAGE 3 OF 4
engagement. This can be your background. This can be an experience or what drives you to make a
difference also known as your why.

We all have something that motivates us. What drives us to get out of bed and make the best out of
what we have, something that pushes us to give more effort and step outside of our comfort zone.
We must help our youth realize that there is something that drives and motivates them to be great.
This is what will keep them on track and focus on their goals when all else fails. Our youth are our
future, business owners, doctors, scientists, politicians and teachers. So be sure to instill in them the
values and skills needed to prepare them for the workforce.

For more on this course and to access related resources, visit us on the web.

[TEXT: DEMOCRACY, PROSPERITY, HUMAN RIGHTS, EDUCATION,

SECURITY. A PRODUCTION OF U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE]

ENCOURAGING SKILLS DEVELOPMENT TRANSCRIPT - PAGE 4 OF 4