From the Girl Scout Research Institute – Change It Up! What Girls Say About Redefining Leadership
More than half of American girls say they don’t aspire to be leaders because girls are turned off by the conventional conception of leadership as command and control.
Sixty-eight percent of survey respondents said they would want to be leaders who stand up “for their beliefs and values,” and 59 percent said they would like to be a leader “who tries to change the world for the better.”
Girls were more likely than boys to be motivated to be leaders because they want to help other people (67 percent vs. 53 percent), share their knowledge and skills with others (53 percent vs. 47 percent) and change the world for the better (45 percent vs. 31 percent).
Girl Scouts launched the Girl Scout Leadership Experience. It focuses on three keys to leadership – Discover, Connect and Take Action – with girls being encouraged to take on increasing responsibility for designing and implementing activities and highlights national outcomes as girls see how their actions can impact the lives of others.
Imagine the Girl Scout Movement for future generations, when many more than four million members can clearly say in one voice what Girl Scouts is and how positively it impacts the lives of girls. It's important to look critically at where we've been, keeping one overarching question in mind: What is Girl Scouting about? Until now this was not an easy question to answer; and if you did have an answer it was probably different from someone's answer in another part of the country. Today we can clearly define Girl Scouting as Leadership Development.
During the past four years, the Girl Scout community has rallied around the charge of clearly defining what we do best. And we concluded that we could capitalize on our strengths by focusing on building the world's best leadership development model for girls ages 5-17.
Ensure that everyone understands that the benefit of Girl Scouting in the lives of girls is Leadership Development.
Provide the design for what girls do in Girl Scouting.
Illustrate how adult support strengthens girls' experiences.
Define and display all the elements that must be in place to positively impact girls' lives.
Take a look at the electronic interactive resource to help guide you through the key features and benefits of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.
Download frequently asked questions about the Girl Scout Leadership Experience.
