Life Skills and
       Leadership
      Peace Corps
      Publication No. M0098
          Acknowledgements
          The Life Skills and Leadership Manual was supported in part by USAID (through contributions from 
          USAID/Africa Bureau/Sustainable Development) funds provided under the Global Education 
          Framework Agreement. 
          The Life Skills and Leadership Training Package and this accompanying manual are designed to 
          address the Peace Corps Youth in Development core skills development for youth. The concepts 
          and learning objectives were outlined by Ambet Yangco, youth sector manager for PC/Philippines; 
          Peace Corps/Washington Youth in Development Specialists Katie Green and Jim Russell; and Tanya 
          Gipson-Nahman, chief of the Program Support Unit in the Office of Overseas Programming and 
          Training Support. It was written through a contract with The Firefly Group of Guilford, Vermont, 
          coordinated by Russell. Field reviews and input came from the following posts: PC/Ecuador, PC/
          Morocco, PC/Paraguay, PC/Peru, PC/Philippines, PC/Tunisia. 
          The Peace Corps expresses its gratitude to all who contributed to this important skills develop-
          ment resource for Volunteers and their counterparts and the youth they serve.
       Life Skills and Leadership Manual Contents
       Introduction ........................................................................................................................................................................  1
       Unit 1: Personal Development
       Session 1: Me and My Assets  ..................................................................... 16
       Session 2: Stages of Adolescence ................................................................. 30
       Session 3: Building Self-Confidence .............................................................. 44
       Session 4: Choosing Positive Values ...............................................................60
       Session 5: Understanding Mental Models ..........................................................74
       Session 6: Stress and Emotions ................................................................... 86
       Session 7: Surviving Tough Times  ............................................................... 100
       Unit 2: Interpersonal Development
       Session 1: Active Listening . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  116
       Session 2: Positive Communication .............................................................. 133
       Session 3: Making Decisions  .................................................................... 154
       Session 4: Creative Ideas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  177
       Session 5: Negative to Positive  .................................................................. 191
       Session 6: Solving Problems ..................................................................... 206
       Session 7: Looking at Conflict  ................................................................... 220
       Session 8: Collaboration  ........................................................................ 231
       Unit 3: Goal Setting and Action Planning
       Session 1: Goal Setting, the Basics ................................................................248
       Session 2: SMART Goals ..........................................................................263
       Session 3: Steps for Action  ...................................................................... 279
       Session 4: Setting Priorities, Managing Time  ......................................................297
       Unit 4: Teamwork and Leadership
       Session 1: What is a Leader? ......................................................................320
       Session 2: Team Leadership  ..................................................................... 334
       Session 3: My Leadership Role (Optional)  ....................................................... 351
       Session 4: The Project Cycle  ..................................................................... 363
       Session 5: Our Project ........................................................................... 380
       Session 6: Celebration and Reflection ........................................................... 397
                           Introduction
                           Life Skills and Leadership for Three YD Sector Competencies
                           The Life Skills and Leadership Manual is designed to be used by Peace Corps Volunteers and their 
                           counterparts who work with youth worldwide to develop the knowledge, skills, and attitudes inte-
                           gral to three Youth in Development sector competencies: 
                           1.   Support healthy lifestyles and prepare youth for family life;  
                           2.   Prepare youth for the world of work; and  
                           3.   Engage youth as active citizens.
                           While a particular project may focus on only one or two of these sector competencies, the life skills 
                           and leadership topics relate to all aspects of life, including: succeeding in the workplace, fostering  
                           healthy living, and engaging with communities. With this manual, Volunteers leading a wide range 
                           of positive youth development activities in any sector can learn to integrate life and leadership 
                           skills training into their relationships with youth in their communities. Once Volunteers and staff 
                           members are familiar with the concepts introduced in the manual, they will be able to see consis-
                           tency with other important principles and practices of the Peace Corps’ approach to programming 
                           and training in the Youth in Development sector. These include life skills indicators and tracking 
                           tools for monitoring, reporting, and evaluating outcomes of youth training activities.
                           A Second Life Skills Manual?
                           The Peace Corps previously published a manual of Volunteer-led activities titled the Life Skills Man-
                           ual  [ICE No. M0063], which has been translated into several languages and implemented widely 
                           since 2001. That manual was developed specifically to provide preventative HIV/AIDS training to 
                           youth. It contains the following units: Peer Education, Facing Facts About HIV/AIDS and STDs, Com-
                           munication Skills, Decision-Making Skills, and Relationship Skills. The scenarios and exercises focus 
                           on preventing HIV and STDs exposure and adolescent reproductive health issues.
                           Feedback from field staff and Volunteers indicated a need for an additional manual that expanded 
                           on the emphasis on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention and adolescent reproductive health is-
                           sues. This manual is the answer to that request as it attempts to identify important life skills and 
                           apply them generally across all sectors in which a Volunteer might be working with youth.
                           There now are two life skills manuals, with an expanded title for the original manual:
                                •	   Life Skills for Sexual and Reproductive Health [ICE No. M0063] – the original Life Skills Manual
                                •	   Life Skills and Leadership Manual [ICE No. M0098] – this current publication
                           Introduction 1