Leadership in the university student environment: How to become a person-oriented leader

Abstract

Currently there is a vital need to teach youth to demonstrate leadership skills as well as to work in the competitive market environment. This article is devoted to the problem of leadership training among university students. The sample included 474 students of Kazan Federal University. The project was based on the use of person-oriented interaction between the university tutors and students to help young people overcome the barriers to develop leadership qualities while being engaged in the organizational activities. In the first phase, the participants' levels of leadership qualities, organizational inclination, and communication skills were determined. The experimental stage was aimed at teaching student organizers create a positive atmosphere in the group being guided by the principles of person-oriented interaction between a leader and his followers. The experiment has demonstrated that collaboration of people with a high level of leadership qualities and those ones with a low level of leadership qualities do not give positive results. Collaboration with the university tutors gave support to the student participants and helped them develop the traits of a leader.