Why We Teach "Power Skills"
Forbes published an article in January 2020 listing the top 5 soft skills, which Dartmouth University President rephrased as “power skills” to accentuate the importance of proficiency for effective leadership: creativity, persuasion, collaboration, adaptability, and emotional intelligence.
Combined with Business Insider’s 2017 report that 80% of new jobs are filled through referrals rather than resume requesting, we recognize, in consistency with the Society for Human Resource Management’s 2020 findings, that individuals without practice in professionalism and getting along with others will fail as economic contributors regardless of their level of talent or academic achievement.
The most well-intentioned schools fall short of preparing students to reach their individual leadership potential because power skills are inadequately positioned in programming or hidden in existing curriculum.
Incorporating entrepreneurship as the driver for demonstrating life skills and leadership strategies as we do through year-round Lead Groups promotes students’ efforts from talking like a leader to living like a leader.
What is more, Future Workplace Research Director Dan Schawbel linked findings from his 2014 “High School Cares” studies online at Entrepreneur.com detailing, “In our research, we discovered that 72 percent of high school students and 64 percent of college students want to start a business someday. In addition, 61 percent of high school students and 43 percent of college students would rather be an entrepreneur instead of an employee when they graduate college.”
Through the All-Year Leader program, we teach girls in their Lead Groups how to pitch and launch their own original companies, start a path toward financial independence, build self-belief and courage, manage stress, make friends, and have fun while doing it!
What is more, our skill-specific Clinics and Camps further prepare girls to lead in every area of their lives.
Research published in The Atlantic has proven the confidence gender gap that opens at puberty hit girls hard and multiplies its effects with age. The habits of dwelling on negative thoughts and engaging in people-pleasing behavior that girls report experiencing more than boys reduces risk-taking practices that can help girls learn resilience and strengthen the skill sets that build leadership ability.
Love Progress Park helps girls become more confident.
By bringing girls out of their comforts zones and into various challenges through the safe spaces See Her Lead clinics, camps, and year-round Lead Groups provide, we teach girls strategies for processing struggle and transition that, with commitment and practice, and alongside other amazing young women like themselves, develop the skill of becoming confident (Shipman, Kay, & Riley, 2018).
Girls get started in middle school and add depth to their friendships and leadership experiences year over year.
Our qualified and attuned Coaches become guides for girls to take calculated risks with their ideas and join a network of peers and mentors who help them follow through as learners, innovators, future leaders, and global contributors.
