Kasama Lee – A Time for Teens
Kasama Lee has been working with leaders in all walks of life for a few years now. And then she found her steps being directed toward working with teens and helping them understand that they could also lead and walk in integrity on their journey to success. You just know you are on the right path when all roads begin to rise up to meet you!
We caught up with Kasama and asked her how she began to recognize this path and what makes her a success at leading teens.
How long have you been teaching Leadership and what made you join the John Maxwell Team?
My journey in leadership development started in 2008. I had unofficially learned about John Maxwell and his global leadership work through my mentors in the direct sales industry. With a desire to learn and grow, I started applying these principles in my life and success started happening spiritually, mentally and financially. Then I started mentoring and developing others the same way that I have been taught. So I effectively have been teaching leadership development for about 6 years. In the spring of 2012, on a fateful day when I was trying to figure out how to take the powerful work of leadership development that has personally changed my life into the world, an email came from the John Maxwell Co. about John speaking on a live webinar that day. I thought, what else could I possibly want to be doing than hearing from my remote mentor who didn’t even know I existed? I jumped on and my prayers were answered. There was a certification program through the John Maxwell Team! I definitely felt the calling screaming at me, no question about it. The rest was history.
What made you decide to work primarily with teens?
After having worked with business professionals, entrepreneurs and business organizations in leadership development with some relative success. I can tell you it was not my decision to start working with teens. I was one of those people who didn’t feel the urge to hang out with kids or teens. Hanging out with my kids was just enough blessing for me. Then because I had become known as a certified John Maxwell leadership coach, a kind-hearted friend from my church invited me to go share some leadership thoughts with a group of teens at this beautiful and rustic place in the woods. She said I could bring my family and make an overnight trip out of it. That sounded good to me! So we went. I prepared my talk based on the YouthMax (a John Maxwell Team program for youth). After spending about 4 hours with these teens, who wanted more in their lives than what they were told was possible for them; who wanted to make a difference as the youth camp counselors for the first time that summer; who wanted to become positive role models for others; I left with my heart filled with an understanding beyond my abilities that this was the work I was made to do to make a difference while I am here on earth.
[it-rotate group=”2″]What opportunities did you explore before you got the chance to work at the City level. What did you have to do to make it happen?
I wish I could tell you I had a grand master plan which I didn’t. I came home inspired from my interactions with the teens and didn’t know where to begin. As I have found time and time again in my life from every successful milestone, an opportunity would present itself when I was prepared and was ready to seize it. During the 4th of July celebration in 2012, I made eye contact with the City’s Parks and Recreation Supervisor, who has since become my great friend and my amazing cheerleader, we started chatting about various programs the City was starting. The word “youth” came out of his mouth and I interrupted him and said something like, “Could I have that job?” This was comical because I had not worked for anyone for the past 10 years. Well I became a Program Advisor in the teens program for the City of American Canyon in northern California, which gave me the opportunity to create a program called Teens In Leadership. Since then, this “job” has opened doors for me to speak at high school and middle school assemblies of hundreds of students.
It has also given me a credibility to make connections with influential individuals who recognize that developing leadership in the teens is a much-needed body of work that most people recognize but don’t want to touch.
What challenges did you have to overcome in your own growth journey before achieving this success?
If I had put a dollar in a jar every time people would tell me “it’s hard to work with teens,” and “why would you want to do this?” or a chuckle as a response, I would have had a nice savings from it! I could go on and on about the cynicisms, the obstacles and about having to create new rules to make things work but I would rather tell you what got me through. My mantra in life has always been, if it’s easy, someone else would have already done it! I learned to leverage on the business relationships I had developed over the years. What I knew was for this work to take off, I had to keep getting the word out until the right people who could see my vision would hear it and support it.
What is most satisfying about what you do?
It has been a humbling experience for me to be with these students who want to learn about how they can change their circumstances, their communications with their parents and their peers, and some of them actually want to change the world! How about that? So you ask what is the most satisfying thing about having a little bit of a contribution into injecting a dose of possibilities, belief, confidence, courage, influence and a whole lot more? Or how about when the students gathered around and surprised me with a bouquet of balloons right before Christmas break strung with hand-written letters from their hearts of how I have specifically impacted their lives and their thinking in a short period of time, that they would never think small again? Or when the parents of these students tell me how blessed their children are to have someone like me in their lives! I sometimes can’t wait to wake up the next morning to see what these students would do or say next based on what they have learned. Unlike adults, they have not had enough years in their lives to develop a big baggage filled with their own ego, excuses, and negative stories to keep themselves in the way of their own growth. What a ride it has been. And to think this is just the beginning of the Young Leadership Academy, the business I have founded specifically to move our teens to distinction.
What advice and tips would you give our readers who might like to move into this space?
That’s easy. It would be the same advice I continue to give myself everyday. Success in life is not just about working hard, it’s about working smart with the gifts that have been given to you. Find a way to make some noise in this space in a big way. Align yourself with mentors and friends who would want to support your vision, and many times, would pull you along when your vision is not big enough yet. I am grateful as many of those I have found in this special JMT family. Surround yourself with givers and walk away from takers. Look for a way to serve in a way that no one else would be willing to do so the kids would benefit. People are always watching so do it for the right reason, and mine is for our world to be a better place through our next generation. The success will come because people believe in your cause and your authenticity. I hope my message will serve and inspire those who know in their servant hearts they were meant to lift these young lives with their leadership skills and personal growth.
About the Author
Kasama is a keynote speaker, trainer and a leadership trainer. Her work impacts emerging and established leaders, their organizations and their teams in equipping them to reach their highest level of performance.
In the same way she has worked with adults in leadership development, in 2012, she created a leadership program designed for high school students. Her passion in this work is to help our next generation discover, develop and define their voices. And for them to gain an empowering way of thinking and, consequently, taking action they did not know was possible. She is the founder of the Young Leadership Academy, a result-driven leadership curriculum designed for middle school and high school students.
Contact Kasama at: http://www.johncmaxwellgroup.com/kasamalee