The Leadership Blog

Posted on January 8, 2013 by Team FLA

Our leadership programs – LeadStar™ & LeadSmart™ – are dedicated to raising effective and ethical leaders by developing them while they’re still moldable. Consider these executive caliber training programs for preteens and teens, focusing on a life stage when young leaders are still pliable in their character, but mature enough to be taught sophisticated social skills required for leading.

LeadStar™ & LeadSmart™ programs utilize the same methodology recommended by the American Society of Training & Development (ASTD), used by Fortune 500 corporations and creative educators: active learning. Research shows that experiential learning increases retention and accelerates comprehension, not to mention keeping concrete thinking preteens & teens awake after a long day of school. Over 90% of our curriculum involves multi-sensory activation and takes into account various learning styles. By intentionally incorporating a combination of cognitive, micro and macro motor skills, video, kinesthetics, and discussion, LeadStar™ (10-13 year olds) and LeadSmart™ (14-18 year olds) training provides a robust means of content delivery. Programs for both the age groups have four modules & over the course of all the four modules, young leaders will experience over 100 leadership activities.

Our Lead curriculum focuses on the 16 most important leadership qualities desired in leaders, based on a compilation of research, including the Center for Creative Leadership, Harvard Business Review, and literature review by Dr. Alan Nelson, founder of Kidlead, our exclusive partner organization licensing our content and powering our curriculum. These 16 qualities are typically taught in 4 eight-week modules. Each module is stand alone, allowing participants to join at any time in the process.

BOOK A SEAT ! Contact us at : leadership@arkaan.org or 800 5323 !

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Leadership Summer camps 2012 !

Posted on July 11, 2012 by Team FLA

LEADERSHIP SUMMER CAMPS 2012 !

The Young Leadership Form, to register your child:

http://www.futureleadershipacademy.org/young_leader

Our leadership program LeadStar™ is dedicated to raising effective and ethical leaders by developing them while they’re still moldable. Consider these executive caliber training programs for preteens and teens, focusing on a life stage when young leaders are still pliable in their character, but mature enough to be taught sophisticated social skills required for leading.

LeadStar™ program uses the same methodology than the American Society of Training & Development (ASTD), used by Fortune 500 corporations and creative educators: active learning. Research shows that experiential learning increases retention and accelerates comprehension, not to mention keeping concrete thinking preteens & teens awake after a long day of school. Over 90% of our curriculum involves multi-sensory activation and takes into account various learning styles. By intentionally incorporating a combination of cognitive, micro and macro motor skills, video, kinesthetics, and discussion, LeadStar™ (10-13 year olds) training provides a robust means of content delivery. Programs for both the age groups have four modules & over the course of all the four modules, young leaders will experience over 100 leadership activities.

Please hurry – seats are limited!

contact us : leadership@arkaan.org or 800 5323 (LEAD)

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Doing Children’s Leadership Training @ Home

Posted on March 22, 2012 by Team FLA

The best place to develop effective, ethical leaders is not Stanford’s Executive Program or a similar high dollar, corporate training event. It is actually in your home, while leaders are young and moldable. And no other people have more influence in a young leader’s life than mom and dad.

Five years ago, when our partner began developing what would become the world’s first, executive caliber leadership training curriculum for 10-18 year olds, they didn’t realize how well kids could capture leadership skills. The reason leadership development needs to start early is that by 14, most of a leader’s character is established. Change is far more difficult post preteen years. Naturally that takes leadership development out of traditional exec training programs, where over 80% of the participants are 30-50 years of age.

The first step of young leader development is estimating a child’s leadership aptitude. This will determine how fast s/he can learn such skills and how far you should push. If you’d like an estimate of your 2 to 22 year olds’ aptitude, take the free, online assessment called the Leadership Influence Survey (LIS) on our website. Adults who’ve seen the child in social settings complete the LIS on the student. Parents receive an automated summary and key to better understand the results.

One way to develop a young leader is to turn normal house chores into leadership projects. A true leadership project has three components: a clear measurable goal, the child as leader, and at least two others on the team. Cleaning her room and washing dishes teaches responsibility, but not leadership. Instead, ask your daughter to “lead” dinner, deciding what and when the family will eat, who’ll do what in food preparation, table setting, and cleaning. Everyone has a role. Though simple, a project like this has all the basic elements of more complex leadership scenarios, such as decision making, conflict management, negotiation, role definition, and limited resources (i.e. time, help, food).

Another way to develop a young leader is to assist your son or daughter in leading a community project. Think of a potential community service topic that your young leader is passionate about, whether it’s animals, the homeless, poor people, or those who are physically challenged. Find a local charity that aids this cause. Let your young leader brainstorm ways of raising awareness and/or funds or needs for this agency. It may be something like organizing a car wash, going door-to-door for canned goods, or doing garage sales of gathered items from friends and neighbors. Again, the goal is to do this leading a team, not alone.

Great life skills are numerous, but leading is about helping others to achieve together. As a parent, create and take advantage of teachable moments on a regular and individualized basis. These become fertile soil to instill both values and skills that will become a part of your young leader’s life for good.

By Alan Nelson, Founder, Kidlead

(in exclusive partnership with the Future Leadership Academy)

Posted in Uncategorized | Tagged Alan Nelson, children's leadership, fla, fla dubai, Future Leadership Academy, Kidlead, Leadership, leadership development, young leader development | Leave a comment

FLA Announces LeadCamp™ for Communities – Half day experience will showcase key leadership concepts for young leaders

Posted on March 14, 2012 by Team FLA

For immediate release…for immediate release…

Dubai – March 14^th, 2011

The Future Leadership Academy (FLA) today announced its launch of LeadCamp™, a four hour especially designed experiential leadership boot camp that will allow 9 to 14 year olds across different communities to participate in a variety of leadership activities.

Aman Merchant, Founder and Chief Emagination Officer, FLA, said: “Over the past three months since we launched our leadership offerings for 10 to 13 year olds, we have received tremendous interest from a variety of groups to allow them to experience these. Whether its within charitable organizations, NGOs or schools, students and their families are new to the idea of teaching leadership to children when they are moldable, and so we have designed a fun, highly interactive and cost-effective four hour program that will allow a variety of stakeholders to witness the magic that occurs when young children are nurtured to lead from a young age.”

Commenting further on the experience, Merchant added “By participating in LeadCamp™, participants will get exposed to a selection of the sixteen key principles for being effective, ethical leaders, along with experiencing these in team projects, where they take turns as leaders and receive feedback from leadership coaches. Should they wish to continue their leadership journeys and experience the entire program, they can sign up for the LeadStar™ modules, that run for 8 weeks on weekends or the week-long leadership bootcamps that happen during term breaks.”

LeadStar™ is a concentrated executive caliber leadership training program for 10-13 year olds, focusing on a life stage when young leaders are still pliable in their character, but mature enough to be taught sophisticated social skills required for developing them into effective and ethical leaders. LeadStar™ teaches the sixteen most desirable leader qualities, dividing them into four modules, each consisting of 8 lessons, typically formatted in 90 minute weekly club settings or organized as week-long leadership bootcamps organised during term breaks. These are taught by certified trainers using media, experiential activities and real-to-life projects. The program includes parent and mentor training as well.

The first sessions for LeadCamp™ start on March 24 in Dubai, followed by similar sessions with NGOs, charitable organizations and schools.

The Future Leadership Academy (FLA) is a pioneering social venture that was launched last November in Dubai to accelerate future leadership potential in children and youth aged 3-24 based in the Middle East, Africa & South Asia – and driven by its vision to make our next generation better leaders, thinkers and entrepreneurs.