Chapter 7: Leadership Development Conferences
Like all groups, Young Religious Unitarian Universalists (YRUU) must have leaders. YRUU, however, fosters a progressive vision of the meaning and function of leadership. Here, leadership is understood not as power over—that is, the power to dominate other people—but as power with: the power to motivate and empower others to share leadership. A leader is anyone who helps the group achieve its goals. Ideally, everyone is a leader, because to be a leader is to be a responsible member of the group.A leadership development conference (LDC) focuses on making the YRUU group mind "smarter" by helping the participants learn how to be leaders. At an LDC, YRUU youth and advisors learn concrete leadership skills within a structure that helps them reflect on why they are involved in YRUU, what roles they play in their YRUU group (local or district), and what they think it means to be a leader in YRUU. Leadership training is a process of empowerment—giving the members of the group the skills they need to have power in their group.
A well-planned leadership development conference can produce amazing results. An LDC can provide energy to rebuild a struggling district or maintain a strong one by increasing the pool of able and enthusiastic youth and advisors and enhancing youth-adult communications. An LDC can also provide benefits to local youth groups and congregations; the youth and advisors returning from LDC conferences often bring their congregations new skills and energy. Most importantly, an LDC is about personal empowerment, offering each participant a chance to grow in terms of actual skills, self-confidence as a leader, and enthusiasm and commitment.
This chapter provides information on planning and programming leadership development conferences, including details that make planning an LDC different from planning a regular conference. Although this chapter focuses on district-wide LDCs, it can be supplemented to apply to other contexts, such as a youth-group meeting or a daylong workshop for a congregation or district.
If your district wants to hold a leadership development conference, we urge you to contact the Youth Office at the UUA (Unitarian Universalist Association) for materials, depending on your needs and focus. In addition, the Youth Office can help you to identify potential workshop leaders in your district. Schedule permitting, staff members are available to visit your district and lead LDCs.
Tips for Pre-planning
Setting Your Goals
Types of LDCs
Participation
Planners and Sponsors
Workshop Leaders
Publicizing Your LDC
Funding Your LDC
At the Conference
Philosophy of YRUU Leadership Training
Special Program Components of an LDC
Training Tips for Leaders
For more information contact youth @ uua.org.
Last updated on Friday, April 18, 2008.
