Every organization in every geography and discipline is challenged to develop leaders who can be effective in complex situations. The ethical conduct of appointed leaders is of particular concern. While some individuals possess natural leadership qualities, anyone can build leadership capacity if they put in the work and have the opportunity. Adolescents and even young children can develop foundational leadership skills; in fact, research suggests that it is vital they do so as these skills correlate with later success in both professional and personal pursuits. Youth sports programs are a promising platform for developing leadership capacity due to strong participation and the widely held belief that participation in sports fosters leadership qualities. However, the limited empirical evidence on what youth know about leadership makes it challenging to test the effectiveness of various approaches to developing the leadership capacity of youth. This study explored how high school athletes and their coaches view leadership. Seventeen volunteer athletes and seven coaches, members of the 2023-2024 school year girls' and boys' swim and dive teams at a public high school, participated in a survey and semi-structured interviews to share their views on leadership -- both generally and within the context of their teams. The perspectives, experiences, stories, lessons learned, and insights of the students and coaches are shared, using their words to lift their voices. Study findings will be of interest to coaches, parents, educators, and administrators working with youth and youth athletic programs. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]