Leadership, Citizenship, & Communication
LEADERSHIP
How do young people become leaders? By building their leadership skills!
Like any skill, such as a foreign language or algebra, Leadership can be learned. You just need to gain the right knowledge, have the right attitude – and you have to believe in yourself and practice, practice, practice!
Alabama 4-H has always prepared young people to lead. Think about Senator Sessions or Millard Fuller, the founder of Habitat for Humanity, or Rick Bragg, the Pulitzer Prize winning journalist. Thousands of business, political, and civic leaders attribute their success to fundamental skills and values they learned in 4-H.
CITIZENSHIP
When we give the 4-H pledge, we promise to help “my club, my community, my country, and my world." A core value of 4-H is good citizenship, thinking beyond yourself and your own self-interest. It’s all connected to playing by the rules, and being a person of character and integrity.
What does “citizenship” mean to you? For some people, it’s patriotism. It can also mean getting involved to help make your school or community a better place. It can be related to taking care of the environment by not littering and not wasting our natural resources. Even with in the club, citizenship can mean being part of a team, helping younger 4-H club members, and involvement in club projects that benefit the community.
COMMUNICATION
In talking with former 4-Hers who have gone on to success as attorneys, educators, business people or other positions of leadership, you often hear one thing: “The greatest part of my 4-H experience was learning to get up in front of a group and talk in public.” Communication skill is “learning by doing.” In a variety of formal and informal settings, such as speaking contests and club meetings, you get to talk --- and you get to listen.
In 4-H you can learn how to do lots of great things, like cook a gourmet meal, care for a wounded pet, or take a good photograph. 4-H teaches you to share what you have learned with others. Through practice, you become self-assured and confident.
Club meetings are another type of useful communications. Just like in a business setting, where a group joins together to make plans, 4-H helps you learn to effectively exchange information with others. You learn to work well with people who may be different from you, coming from different backgrounds and experiences.
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