Day 1: Leading Yourself
You cannot lead others well until you know what you stand for and what you are good at.
Today's goal
By the end of today you can name your top values and strengths, tell a short story about a time you led, and choose one leadership habit to practise.
Agenda
- Warm-upThe best leader I have known15 min
- LearnWhat exemplary leaders do15 min
- ActivityValues sort25 min
- ActivityStrengths spotting25 min
- BreakBreak15 min
- LearnSelf-awareness: intent and impact15 min
- ChallengeMy leadership story25 min
- ActivityOne leadership habit20 min
- ReflectManifesto seeds15 min
- QuizDay 1 quiz10 min
The session
The best leader I have known
Most of us have met a great leader who had no grand title: a coach, a teacher, an older cousin. Start by noticing what they actually did.
- Think of one person who brought out the best in you. They do not need to be famous or senior.
- Write three things they did, as actions you could see or hear, not adjectives. For example: 'remembered my name on day one', not 'kind'.
- Write how each action made you feel and what you did differently as a result.
- Circle any action that you could start doing yourself this week.
Solo
Write your answers, then say them out loud to yourself in under one minute, as if introducing this person.
Group
In pairs, take two minutes each. The facilitator collects actions on sticky notes and groups them on the wall. Notice how few of them depend on a title.
Related lessons: Leadership without a title
What exemplary leaders do
James Kouzes and Barry Posner studied what people do when they are at their personal best as leaders. Their model, The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, is a useful lens for this whole camp.
- Model the Way: be clear about your values and act on them, so that people see what you stand for.
- Inspire a Shared Vision: picture a better future and invite others to share it.
- Challenge the Process: look for better ways, try things out and learn from mistakes.
- Enable Others to Act: build trust and help others grow and take ownership.
- Encourage the Heart: recognise contributions and celebrate what the team achieves.
- Leadership is about behaviour, so it can be learned and practised. Go back to your warm-up list and match each action to one of the five practices.
Related lessons: Leadership without a title
Values sort
Your values are the compass you lead by. When you know them, hard choices become clearer and people can trust you.
- Write 20 values on small pieces of paper or sticky notes, for example: honesty, faith, family, fairness, excellence, kindness, courage, loyalty, learning, service, independence, respect, humility, creativity, health, generosity, responsibility, gratitude, patience, adventure.
- Sort them into three piles: very important, important, less important. Be strict: no more than eight in the first pile.
- Narrow the first pile to your top five, then rank them.
- For each top value, write one sentence: 'I show this when I ...' and one sentence: 'I find this hard when ...'.
- Write your top five on the inside cover of your notebook. You will use them on Day 5.
Solo
Do the sort on your own, then explain your top two to a family member and ask them whether they see those values in you.
Group
Sort individually for 15 minutes. Then in threes, each person explains their top value and one moment it was tested. Listeners only ask questions; no judging.
Related lessons: What values are and finding your own, Responsibility and keeping your word
Strengths spotting
The VIA Institute on Character describes 24 character strengths grouped under six virtues: wisdom, courage, humanity, justice, temperance and transcendence. Knowing your strengths helps you lead in a way that is genuinely yours.
- Read the six virtue groups: Wisdom (creativity, curiosity, judgement, love of learning, perspective); Courage (bravery, perseverance, honesty, zest); Humanity (love, kindness, social intelligence); Justice (teamwork, fairness, leadership); Temperance (forgiveness, humility, prudence, self-regulation); Transcendence (appreciation of beauty and excellence, gratitude, hope, humour, spirituality).
- Tick the five strengths that feel most like you, the ones that energise you when you use them.
- For each, write one real example from the last year.
- Ask: which of my strengths could help a team I am in right now?
- Optional: the VIA Survey is free online and gives a ranked report. If you are under 18, use the VIA Youth Survey (for ages 10 to 17) and ask a parent before signing up.
Solo
Message two people who know you well and ask: 'What do you think I am good at when I am at my best?' Compare their answers with your ticks.
Group
Strengths spotting: in teams of four, each person tells a two-minute story of a time they were at their best. The others write down every strength they hear and hand over their notes. Everyone leaves with three outside views.
Related lessons: Exploring careers and knowing your strengths, Building real confidence and self-esteem
Break
Stand up, drink water, step outside if you can. Notice how you feel after the first hour.
- Move for at least five minutes.
- Have a snack and some water.
Self-awareness: intent and impact
Self-awareness means knowing both how you see yourself and how your behaviour lands on others. The Center for Creative Leadership points out that there is often a gap between what we meant and the impact we had.
- You judge yourself by your intentions; other people mostly see your behaviour and feel its impact.
- The gap is normal. Leaders close it by asking, listening and adjusting, not by defending themselves.
- Notice your patterns under stress: do you take over, go quiet, rush, or joke? Name yours.
- Emotions are information. Naming them helps you choose your response rather than react.
- A simple daily check: What did I intend today? What impact did I see? What will I do differently?
Related lessons: Emotional intelligence: what it is and what the science says, Naming your emotions
My leadership story
Everyone has led something, even if it was small. Today you turn one moment into a short story you can use in interviews, applications and your Day 5 pitch.
- Draw a timeline of your life so far and mark three moments when you took the lead: organising, helping, standing up for someone, fixing something.
- Choose one moment. Write it in four parts: the situation, what you did, what happened, what you learned.
- Label which of the Five Practices you used in it.
- Cut it to 90 seconds when spoken.
- Record it or tell it, then write down one thing you would do differently now.
Solo
Record yourself telling the story on your phone. Watch it back once and note one strength in how you told it and one thing to improve.
Group
In pairs, tell your story. Your partner names the practice they heard and asks one follow-up question. Swap. Volunteers share with the whole group.
Related lessons: Interviews: preparing, the STAR method and common questions, Leadership without a title
One leadership habit
Leaders are built by small, repeated actions. Pick one habit that matches your values and practise it every day for four weeks.
- Choose one habit from your warm-up list or from the Five Practices, for example: arrive five minutes early, thank one person by name every day, ask one quiet person for their view in each meeting, finish what you promise.
- Make it specific: when, where and how often.
- Link it to something you already do (after the school bus, after Maghrib prayer, after lunch).
- Decide how you will track it: a tick in your notebook or a note on your phone.
- Tell one person, who will ask you about it next week.
Solo
Write your habit on a sticky note and put it somewhere you will see it every morning.
Group
Find an accountability partner in the group. Swap numbers through a parent or use the class platform, and agree a one-line check-in each Friday.
Related lessons: Humility, patience and self-discipline, Responsibility and keeping your word, Daily habits for wellbeing
Manifesto seeds
Your personal leadership manifesto will be finished on Day 5. Today you plant the first lines.
- Complete: 'I lead best when ...'
- Complete: 'I believe a good leader always ...'
- Complete: 'I will never ...' (a line you will not cross, linked to your values).
- Read your three lines out loud. Do they sound like you? Edit until they do.
Solo
Write your three lines on a fresh page titled 'My Manifesto: draft'.
Group
Silent writing for ten minutes, then volunteers read one line each. No comments, just a thank you.
Related lessons: Meaningful goals and a personal mission statement
Day 1 quiz
Five quick questions to lock in today's ideas.
- Answer on your own first.
- Check the explanations and note anything you got wrong.
Block timer
Your journal
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Day 1 quiz
Score 80% or more to complete Day 1.
1. Which of these is one of Kouzes and Posner's Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership?
2. In the Five Practices, what does 'Model the Way' mean?
3. How many character strengths does the VIA classification describe?
4. According to the Center for Creative Leadership, why ask about intent after giving feedback?
5. Which is the best way to write a leadership habit you will actually keep?
Overnight challenge
Practise your leadership habit once before Day 2, and ask one adult you trust: 'When have you seen me lead?' Write down their answer word for word.