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Abstract
Although there are many existing models on leadership, they have two problems. First, prevailing models focus more on the competencies (i.e., "doing") instead of personal qualities (i.e., "being") of leaders. Second, most of the models are developed with reference to adults in the business settings instead of young people who are not working. Drawing on the literature on positive youth development and the experiences gained from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, it is argued that a holistic youth leadership framework should focus on several attributes, including: a) social responsibility (passion about the needy and motivation to serve); b) excellence (excel in different areas, particularly in the domains of intrapersonal and interpersonal development); c) reflection (ability to honestly assess one's strengths, weaknesses and behavior); d) visionary (youth leaders should have visions particularly with reference to the needs and problems of the society and the world); and e) ethical leadership (moral character is the foundation of leaders). Using the first letter in these attributes, a "SERVE" model is proposed to guide youth leadership programs.
Keywords: Leadership, youth development, social responsibility, excellence, reflection, visionary, ethical leadership
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Introduction
Leadership is an important dimension in organizations. Without a good leader, organizations do not thrive and the directions of development are blurred. Hence, leadership development forms an important dimension in organizational behavior, particularly in the business field. Conceptually speaking, many leadership models focusing on the competencies of leaders (particularly management skills) have been proposed. In the management field, most of the leadership skills focus on management skills and efficiency enhancement. Practically speaking, many leadership programs have been developed by many management consulting companies which pledge to nurture leaders who will promote efficiency and profit maximization in organizations. For some famous programs, the fee is enormously high.
Unfortunately, there are two basic problems of the existing models on leadership, particularly those evolved from the business sector. First, most of the existing leadership models are developed for adults (1). As the developmental tasks of adults are different from those of adolescents, there is a need to develop leadership models with particular reference to the developmental needs and challenges of young people. Second, youth leadership programs commonly lack developmental focus (2), focusing too much on competence...