Power to Lead: leadership training for young people in careYoung people leading the change.

Story. The part opens with a story of growing up in care and going on to lead change. Then Keisha, 15, who was asked to speak at a corporate parenting board. She told them about her worst placement move because she thought that was what they wanted to hear. The room clapped. She went home and could not sleep.

Theory. The LUUT model, from Barnett Pearce and Vernon Cronen’s Coordinated Management of Meaning, separates the story you lived from the story you tell. Your lived story belongs to you. The story you tell is a choice, and it can change depending on who is listening and why.

Action. Young people list their strengths and find an example of each. Then they sort their own story into three piles: what I share with anyone, what I share with people I trust, and what stays mine. They practise a line for turning down a question, such as “That’s not something I talk about here, but what I can tell you is...”

By the end of this part people can name three strengths with an example of each, say what they will share and what stays private, and turn down a question calmly.

You leave with A list of their strengths and a personal plan for what they share and what stays private.

Story. Connor, 16, is the one who always speaks at the children in care council. When he is off sick, the meeting with the director goes quiet. Nobody else has ever been asked to speak, so nobody does.

Theory. Bruce Tuckman’s stages of group development (1965), forming, storming, norming and performing, show why a new group feels awkward at first and why it gets stronger once everyone has a job. A group carried by one voice stops being a group.

Action. The group agrees roles: chair, speaker, note-taker, timekeeper and the person who asks the follow-up question. Each young person builds a short point in three lines: what is happening, why it matters, what we want to change. They say it to the group, then to facilitators playing a tougher room, and use Rewind and Replay to go back over the moment that wobbled and try it again.

By the end of this part people can make a two-minute point to a group of adults, answer a challenging question, and name the role they will take in their group.

You leave with A practised way to make a point in meetings with adults, and a role in their group.

Story. Imani, 19, and her care leaver forum spent a year asking for help with travel costs. They met managers, filled in feedback forms and were thanked every time. Nothing changed. Then they found out the decision sat with someone nobody had invited them to meet.

Theory. Laura Lundy’s model of participation (2007) says young people need four things: space to speak, support to give their voice, an audience who can act, and influence over what happens next. Most groups get the first two. Roger Hart’s ladder of participation (1992) helps young people tell the difference between being consulted and being there for show. We also explain the corporate parenting principles in the Children and Social Work Act 2017, which require the council to encourage children in care and care leavers to express their views and to take them into account.

Action. Young people pick an issue they care about and draw a power map: who decides, who influences that person, when the decision gets made and how to get in front of them. They check their plan against Lundy’s four steps and fix the gaps.

By the end of this part people can explain the difference between corporate parents, elected members and managers, and name one decision-maker for their issue and how to reach them.

You leave with A map of who decides on their issue and how to reach them.

Story. Finn, 14, thinks the welcome pack for children coming into care should be written by young people. Everyone says it is a great idea. Six months later nothing has happened, and the worker who said it has moved on.

Theory. George Doran’s SMART goals (1981): specific, measurable, achievable, realistic and time-bound. A good idea becomes a project when it has a clear goal, a first step and a date.

Action. Each young person or group writes a leadership plan: their SMART goal, the first three steps, the adult who will back it and the date they will check progress. They present it to the staff from their service, who agree there and then what they will do to help.

By the end of this part people can write a SMART goal for their project, set out the first three steps, and name the adult who will support them.

You leave with A personal leadership plan for each young person.