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LEADERSHIP TRAILS

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Academics

Welcome to the Academic Leadership Trail in partnership with West Virginia University. These 6 trail activities involve more academic models of leadership, and will help you practice the skills of active listening, perspective-taking, communication, impromptu speaking, and negotiation.

You’ve arrived this morning at your laboratory, ready to do some science! Your job today is to conduct some leadership experiments, observing and reflecting on what you see. Your first experiment asks participants to engage in active listening while a subject engages in a persuasive debate. You look out over the lab and see several participants arguing in an animated manner. Time for you to jump in!

Table of Contents

  1. Goal
  2. Purpose
  3. Materials
  4. Setup
  5. Running the Game
  6. Debrief

Goal

Practice the skills of Active Listening while your partner tries to persuade you.

Goal

Practice the skills of Active Listening while your partner tries to persuade you.

Purpose

Practice communication and listening skills.

Materials

None

Setup

Create partners between scouts. If there is an odd person out, a group of three can form with everyone taking a turn.

Purpose

Practice communication and listening skills.

Materials

None

Setup

Create partners between scouts. If there is an odd person out, a group of three can form with everyone taking a turn.

Table of Contents

  1. Goal
  2. Purpose
  3. Materials
  4. Setup
  5. Running the Game
  6. Debrief

Running the game

In each pair, choose one partner to serve as the listener first. The other partner is the persuader.

  • Attached to this sheet is a set of prompts for debate. The listener chooses one of the prompts and chooses which side they agree with. The persuader will be tasked with arguing/explaining the other point of view.
  • For two minutes, the persuader works to explain their point of view to the listener. The listener’s job is purely to listen, practicing the skills of Active Listening. The skills they should be modeling are:
    • Pay Close Attention: the listener should pay close attention to the persuader, without looking to respond.
    • Witholding Judgment: the listener should not judge the arguments of the persuader seeking only to understand them.
    • Paraphrase and Clarify: the listener should take time to paraphrase or clarify what they are hearing from the persuader.
    • Ask Open Questions: the listener should ask open questions to prompt further conversation. Open questions invite the persuader to expand upon their point. If a question has a Yes/No answer or a one word answer, it is not an open question.
  • After two minutes have passed, switch roles and choose a new prompt to repeat the activity.

Debrief

The following debrief questions are meant to give you an opportunity to discuss with your patrol mates and reflect on the game. You can have one leader ask the discussion questions or you could take turns asking the questions, making sure everyone’s voice is heard.

Take 4 minutes to debrief the activity, making sure everyone gets an opportunity to answer at least one question.
  • How did you know your partner was listening to you?
  • How did it feel to really be listened to without being interrupted?
  • What made this activity challenging for you?
  • How can active listening help you resolve conflicts among your team?
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