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The Girl Scouts have just released a study titled: "Change it Up! What girls say about redefining leadership." Click here to see a copy of the document.

You might want to check out the study for yourself because news media around the country seem to think it's got several different dramatic things to say. Here are a few headlines.

From the Washington Post: Many Potential Leaders of Tomorrow Reject the Role

From the Philadelphia Daily News: Leadership a matter of style

From UPI: Minority children value leadership

Those headlines make it seem like the reporters are talking about three very different studies. They're not. Before you draw any conclusions based on news stories about this survey, you should understand some key things.

First, this is a survey of boys and girls aged 8 to 17. That's right, 8 to 17. That's a huge age spread.

Eight year olds are just emerging from family to become actors in the wider world. They're in the second grade. Seventeen year olds are in the throes of adolescence, getting ready to graduate from high school and head off to college or work.

Many of the outlets reporting on the study have jumped on the parts about how youth don't want to be leaders. Before you start worrying that we may not have anyone willing to step up and lead in thirty years or so, you need to know what questions were asked. This is from page 19, if you're following along in your own copy.

On whether they wanted to be a leader, there are three possible responses. One was "I want to be a leader." Another was "I don't mind being a leader, but it's not that important to me." The vast majority of every subgroup surveyed chose one of those two answers.

Among Asian girls, for example, 59 percent said they wanted to be a leader. Thirty-eight percent said they didn't mind. Only 3 percent said they didn't want to be a leader. That's hardly "rejects the role."

The largest percentage of "don't want to be a leader" responses was 10 percent. So the headlines could have said: "Ninety percent of youth willing to lead."

Stories also mention that the survey participants prefer other things to being a leader. Again, it pays to know the wording involved. This is from page 14.

The top goals were, in order of preference, "Staying free of drugs, alcohol and tobacco," "Doing well in school," and "Being nice to others." All were important to more than half of both boys and girls. And, of course, they all rated higher than wanting to be a leader.

Come on. This isn't just comparing apples and oranges. It's comparing apples, oranges, aardvarks, and carriage bolts.

I'm angry that this muddled mess is passed off as valuable research by a respected organization that does many amazing things. And I'm angry the people reporting on this "study" for the media tend to pick a single finding and report on it uncritically.

But you can rest easy. You don't have to depend on news media reports on "studies" like this to know if leaders will rise up from the coming generation. Watch them at play and at school and all the other places you'll find them. You'll see that there are plenty of young people trying on the role of leader to see if it fits.

Wally's Working Supervisor's Support Kit is a collection of information and tools to help working supervisors do a better job. It's based on what Wally's learned in over twenty years of supervisory skills training. Click here to check it out.

Request your free copy of "Meeting the Challenges of the Boomer Brain Drain: An integrated approach."

Wally Bock has helped people learn to be great bosses for more than a quarter century. His latest book, Performance Talk: The One-on-One Part of Leadership, makes learning key leadership principles almost effortless by teaching through a story and providing lists of resources for further growth.

Click here to find out more about Wally's coaching services.

For weekly tips and resources pointers, check our Wally Bock's Three Star Leadership Letter.

Click here to find out more about having Wally speak to your company or convention.