Building your leadership skills can seem scary or unachievable, but 4-H teaches us that nothing is unachievable. Here are three easy ways to build your leadership skills.  

It is important to note that everyone has leadership skills!

1.  Identify someone who you have observed to have good leadership skills. Contact them and ask if you can meet with them and talk about what they do in their leadership role. This could be a past 4-H leader, your manager at work, a family friend, or an older 4-H member.  During this networking meeting, ask the person to share any tips with you they have learned along the way about leading others. There will likely be things that you can take away from the meeting and start doing yourself. 

2. Take on small leadership roles first.  In your 4-H club this could be the recreational officer, refreshment officer, or reporter of your club.  These smaller leadership roles give you good experience so you can work your way up to bigger leadership roles such as president of your 4-H club or a class officer at school.  

3. Everyone is a different type of leader and it is important to know what kind of leader you are, take a personality test to find out more about yourself and your strengths and weaknesses.  Then focus on those weaknesses and improve them overall. With this focus, you will be improving those leadership skills.  https://high5test.com/?ref=48

Just doing small things to improve your leadership skills will have a big impact and make you more fit and a better option for leadership positions.

Learn more about leadership opportunities at Illinois 4-H by visiting the Leadership page.

Meet the Author: Megan Eppel is a member of the Youth leadership Team. She is currently a sophomore in college studying business management and marketing.  Megan lives in Lake County and has been a member of 4-H for 10 years and now is a 4-H alumni. In her free time she likes to sew and hike.