What a Bag of Snacks Can Teach Us About Leadership

At a recent staff meeting, we started as we often do, with an ice breaker activity to ground us in the kind of experiences we create for our young people.

We broke into small groups and each group got a string bag filled with snacks. Cookies, crackers, fruit snacks, chips, raisins, nuts, a mix of things. Enough variety that everyone spied some favorites.

One person per group observed how the group worked together.

The first task was for each person in the group to write down their top three snack choices from the bag. Simple enough.

Next, each group had to compile a list of their top five collective choices.

In every group, something different happened. Some jumped right into discussions, while others needed a moment. Some people advocated strongly for their picks, while others focused on making sure every voice was heard. Observers noticed who asked questions, who built on others’ ideas, and where the group paused or got stuck in the process.

By the time we came back together and refined our overall top five choices, we had a great list of snacks. But what we had really done was practiced something essential: building consensus.

The Process Matters

This is the kind of work our young people are doing all the time in our programs. Figuring out how to listen to each other. How to speak up. How to make a decision when not everyone agrees. How to stay in it when it would be easier to check out.

And it’s not always smooth, sometimes it’s complicated. But that’s where the growth happens.

Building consensus isn’t about getting your way, and it’s not about majority rules. It takes patience, awareness, and a willingness to adjust. Those are skills that develop over time, and only if you actually practice them.

That’s why we do this as a staff, too.

If we expect young people to grow into leaders who can navigate group dynamics and make thoughtful decisions, we have to keep working on those same skills ourselves. Not just talking about it, but showing it in our day-to-day work and interactions.

This is the development of leadership skills. It just so happens that this time, it looked like a bag of snacks.

Leadership U is the signature leadership development curriculum for Crossroads' C5 Leaders program. It introduces leadership concepts and provides a framework for leadership learning throughout the camp day. Each experiential learning session is designed to last 60-75 minutes and is taught regularly to the entire class group. As such it serves as an opportunity for the class to bond and learn how to work together as a team.