Leadership Coaching

We do a disservice when we ask young people to lead projects, organizations, and movements without holding space for deep leadership development.

Informed by our partners and youth organizers, this program is an affordable way to bolster skill sets and expand leadership potential.

Peer coaching can be part of the solution to many challenges Blue Future’s alumni are facing as practitioners in the movement, including preventing burnout, creating space to learn how to make better decisions, and strengthening our individual awareness and collective organizing power to win improvements in people’s lives.

February 9 – March 7, 2023: Application accepted on a rolling basis.

March 7-13: Review applications and welcome inaugural cohort.

March 22: Program begins with first cohort session + bi-weekly small group meetings.

May 31: Program ends with possibility of continuation.

All participants will contribute to creating a shared peer coaching pedagogy, including understanding key questions, developed in The Coaching Habit, to coach one another:

• The Kickstart Question—What’s on your mind?
• The AWE Question—And what else?
• The Focus Question—What’s the real challenge here for you?
• The Foundation Question—What do you want?
• The Lazy Question—How can I help?
• The Strategic Question—If you’re saying ‘Yes’ to this, what are you saying No to?
• The Learning Question—What was most useful for you?

The Peer Coaching program will also focus on developing a comprehensive understanding of the Axioms for Organizing as core principles for effective organizing and organizational leadership. 

We will also share leadership assessments and evaluations before, during, and after the program to assess leadership growth.

A key goal of this program will be to measure and evaluate effectiveness of the program based on the following Framework of Leadership Growth, adapted from The Leadership Challenge: 

Increase in self-awareness and motivation

By providing valuable leadership training and assessments, folks become attuned to their work and leadership potential in new and impactful ways. Our hope is this program will help folks gain greater self-awareness and become more committed to the future of progressive organizing, leading to increased motivation and innovation across the movement.

Grow in Confidence

A primary focus of Blue Future’s Inaugural Peer Coaching program is increasing awareness around one’s own leadership behavior and learned habits. By increasing self-awareness and encouraging personal discovery, young leaders will have a greater sense of how they can show up more skillfully in their work and life to embody their innate leadership. As leaders learn more about themselves, they gain a greater sense of confidence to get big things done.

Create a Community of Love, Respect, and Resilience

There is no magic cure for the common workplace challenges diverse youth leaders face, but having the language to work through these problems in community will facilitate resilience. By supporting leaders to understand themselves, their vision, and their goals – while also understanding that each of us has something to contribute – we can create a movement that works together with love and respect at the center.