Leadership giftedness: Models revisited

Following a review of adult models of leadership and of leadership programs for young people that are derived from adult theories of leadership, we report results from a decade-long study in underserved and at-risk communities of young people identified and promoted as leaders within out-of-school youth organizations. This work reveals how emerging youth leadership differs from established measures and leadership theories drawn from adults. Views and enactments of leadership among the young focus on how leadership happens, not on who leaders are as power figures, skillful managers, or individuals bearing specific traits. These perspectives from youth carry strong links to recent work in cognitive psychology and organizational sociology that maintains the key importance of adaptation, engagement with situation, and distribution of knowledge and roles.