A leader looks forward: words from a story chapter
A leader who looks forward sets a goal and keeps the team moving towards it. In a story about a leader, ask: What is the leader’s ambition? What problem stands in the way? How does the leader show courage? What symbol or action helps the team to believe? An ambition is a strong wish to achieve something important. Courage is the strength to act even when you are afraid. A symbol is an object or picture that stands for an idea: a white flag stands for peace, a trophy for winning. Something is special when it is different from or better than usual. Remember that a leader also remembers what the team learned from the past. Your book has Chapter Six of a serial story on pages 92–93: read it after this lesson and find the ambition and one symbol. Here we practise with our own text.
| Question | Answer from our text |
|---|---|
| What is the ambition? | To take the team to the final of the school league. |
| What is the problem? | The team lost every match last season. |
| How does the leader show courage? | She asks for extra practice and speaks honestly. |
| What is the symbol? | The small silver whistle on the team bag. |
Rania was the captain of the school volleyball team, and her ambition was to take the team to the final of the school league. Last season the team lost every match, and some players wanted to give up. Rania showed courage: she asked the coach for extra practice and spoke honestly to the team about their mistakes. She tied a small silver whistle to the team bag as a symbol of their goal, and every player touched it before a match. The team was not perfect, but it was special, because every player believed in it. This year it reached the final. Rania says that the best leaders look forward, but they also remember what they learned.
My ambition card. Write your ambition for the next year in one sentence. Draw a symbol for it. Write two steps that will help you and one thing that could stop you, and say how you will show courage. Tell a grown-up about your card.