12 Things You Must Do To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders

Having young leaders is vital to the health of your church, business, non-profit or athletic squad.  The most successful organizations are always “green and growing”.  Young leaders bring fresh ideas, a different perspective and high-energy to your team.  Young leaders afford you the privilege of having a sustainable future.

I was reminded of these facts when I watched the Ohio State Buckeyes win the college football championship this past Monday evening.  Head Coach Urban Meyer’s team was thought to be one year away.  After all, their offensive and defensive starting lineups featured just seven seniors. Their leading passer, rusher, tackler and sack artists are all just sophomores.  They were young but the future was now.

Regardless of the type of team you lead, there is much to learn from from Coach Meyer and his staff about developing young talent.  The following are 12 Things You Must Do To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders:

1. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders You Need A Lot Of Young Leaders In Your Organization – This refers to volume.  As a leader, you must be intentional about adding young leaders to your organization.  The 2013 recruiting class contained 18 four- or five-star prospects.
2. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders You Need To Start With Talented Young Leaders – This refers to quality.  Having a lot of young leaders in your organization is not enough.  They must be talented.  The 2013 class was rated as the 2nd best recruiting class in the nation.
3. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders You Must Give Them A Vision For Their Success – Because Coach Meyer had previously won national championships at Florida, safety Vonn Bell told SI.com (click link for full article), “We had a vision.  We wanted to bring championships to this program. We wanted to be the best class to come into this program. We had a vision. “
4. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders They Must Immediately Play A Primary Role In Your Organization – Throw them into the deep-end of the pool or risk losing them.  Meyer admits he made a mistake by redshirting some very talented young players.  He said, “Some of those guys won’t be here for their fifth year (because they will go pro).  So we screwed up. We didn’t get another year out of them.”
5. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders You Must Instill In Them The Value Of Hard Work – Often, young leaders have talent which can take them to a place where a sense of entitlement cannot sustain them.  Defensive tackle Michael Bennett, an upperclassman, said, “They like to work. They like to grind. They like to get extra lifts in. All that stuff.  It’s not a task for them to work hard. It’s not a task for them to do another sprint. They’re going to be the first guys in line, they’re going to run as hard as they can.”
6. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders You Must Teach Them Resilience – Nothing of lasting value comes easily in this world.  Freshman linebacker Darron Lee was rejected by Coach Meyer four times in high school before finally receiving a scholarship offer.
7. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders Give Them A Pattern Of Success To Follow – Lee says, “I always thought, hey, if you come here, you get big, you’re at your weight, you learn the playbook, you just go out and make plays.  I feel that’s how it works.”
8. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders You Must Help Them Identify And Avoid The Obstacles Of Success – Meyer told Colin Cowherd on his January 13th radio show, “Defeat the demons.  Being selfish.  Being lazy.  Being immature.”
9. Developing Highly Successful Young Leaders Is A Process, Not An Event – Continuing his conversation with Cowherd, Meyer said, “Everyday was another journey.  Everyday was another day at work.”  He even added he did not think this was a championship team until they won the Big Ten championship in December.
10. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders You Must Earn Their Trust – In the January 19th edition of Sports Illustrated, leadership consultant Tim Kight said, “You can only push people to the level that they trust you.  If you’re my coach and you’re an X’s and O’s wizard – the best position coach in the country – but I don’t trust you, you can’t push me very far.”
11. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders You Must Be Flexible – You cannot treat all young leaders the same.  Because of injuries, offensive coordinator Tom Hermon successfully developed three different quarterbacks with three different skills sets, three different personalities and three different set of experiences.
12. To Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders You Must Have High Expectations For Them – There is incredible potential in youth and naivety.  Joey Bosa was the Big Ten Defensive Player Of The Year.    J.T. Barrett finished fifth in the Heisman Trophy voting.  Ezekiel Elliott finished the season the three consecutive games rushing for over 200 yards.  The aforementioned Lee had 16.5 tackles for loss this season.  And Vonn Bell intercepted a team-high six passes while simultaneously being the team’s second leading tackler.  Quarterback Cardale Jones summed it up by saying, “Long story short, we weren’t supposed to be here.”

Add Many Talented, Young Leaders. Give Them A Vision For Their Success. Let Them Play A Primary Role. Teach Them Hard Work and Resilience. Give Them A Pattern To Follow. Identify Obstacles. Enjoy The Process. Earn Their Trust. Be Flexible. And then, Have High Expectations For Them.  If you do these 12 things, You Will Develop Highly Successful Young Leaders

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