New paper argues for more research exploring adolescent leadership

Greta Thunberg, David Hogg, and Malala Yousafzai, all teenagers when their activism caught the world’s attention, are proof that leadership develops well before adulthood.

As essential as they are, and as complex the challenges they face as tomorrow’s leaders, scientists do not understand the traits and experience that define young leaders. While there is clear evidence that leaders blossom early, little research exists about leadership development in adolescence.

The paper “Understanding the Leaders of Tomorrow: The Need to Study Leadership in Adolescence” makes a case for adding a multidisciplinary developmental perspective to leadership research. The study was published today (Nov. 9) by Perspectives on Psychological Science.

“The rapid development of personality, peer relationships, values, and vocational identity during this period, make adolescence an optimal time for developing leadership potential,” said Jennifer Tackett, a clinical psychologist at Northwestern University and the paper’s corresponding author.

“We think that a lot of great leadership potential is getting lost as youth develop in the context of cumulative, multilayered systemic barriers, and that looking earlier in life may be a key to harnessing and fostering this potential well ahead of these later outcomes,” Tackett said. “Everyone stands to benefit from improving leadership skill and effectiveness in the leaders of tomorrow.”

Tackett is director of the Personality Across Development (PAD) lab, and a professor of psychology at Weinberg College of Arts and Sciences at Northwestern.

Continue reading in Northwestern Now’s story, “Scientists cite need for more research on leadership development in adolescence.”