“Leadership isn’t about being perfect or popular. It’s about making decisions, taking responsibility, and developing the skills that allow us to show up with courage and confidence.”
Lorraine Connell, Leadership Coach & Founder of Peers Not Fears
What If the Clearest Leadership Lessons Come From Teenagers?
It’s the last day of the month. Across the country, young people have tossed their caps in the air, hugged their friends goodbye, and are now preparing for whatever comes next: summer jobs, their first “real job,” finding adventure, traveling overseas, college dorms, first apartments. These are our future leaders. Yet even before these big milestones, teenagers are already leading. And they have plenty to teach us right now.
In my latest Transformative Leadership Conversations episode, I sit down with Lorraine Connell, a leadership coach for teenagers and founder of Peers Not Fears. Lorraine spent over 20 years as a chemistry teacher, volleyball coach, and student advisor. In that time, she saw firsthand how the myths we hold about leadership start early.
In this conversation, we talk about:
Why teenagers still believe they have to be perfect to lead — and how adults reinforce this myth without realizing it
How the idea that you need a title to be a leader holds teens (and so many adults) back
Why leadership is really about making decisions, not about having all the answers
What happens when we don’t let young people make mistakes, and what we can do differently
Lorraine shares her own story of going from an “average” high school student who never saw herself as a leader to helping young people build the confidence they need to see the leader in themselves.
She reminds us that leadership is a skill set. It’s not innate. It can be learned. It can be practiced — and it can even be fun.
One of my favorite moments in this episode is when Lorraine talks about the ripple effect of peer mentorship — how one confident, empowered teen can lift up another, and another, and so on. It’s exactly what we need more of in our schools, our families, and our workplaces.
So as we close out the month of graduations and new chapters, I invite you to listen and reflect:
What’s one lesson you wish you’d learned about leadership earlier in your life?
How might your own mistakes become more visible learning moments for the people who look up to you?
Who mentored as a teen or a young adult and how could you pay that forward?
If you’re a parent, teacher, coach, or just someone who cares about the next generation, I promise you’ll come away from this conversation with a new perspective on what it means to lead. And what it means to learn.
Listen to the full episode here.
And if you know someone graduating or stepping into something new, share this episode with them, too.
You are always welcome to take a seat at the table where every conversation has the potential for transformative change.
If you're ready to take your leadership to the next level or empower your teams for success, I'm here to help. Reach out to me directly at winnie@winnifred.org or check out my website at www.winniedasilva.com to learn more about my work in coaching executives, developing critical leadership skills, and working with clients to build effective team
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