The aim of the research presented in this article is to identify differences in ideas of how young people belonging to different generations perceive the youth leaders’ social activity. Presumably there are differences in the ideas about the structure of social activity of youth leaders and its conditionality by personal factors among young people of different generational groups. The empirical sample consisted of representatives of the older generation (youth of the early 1990s aged 16 to 29 years, N = 208) and the modern generation (modern youth aged 16 to 26 years, N = 217) mostly female (63,7%). The questionnaire compiled by the authors was used to study the forms of social activity and its manifestations at the levels of behavior and personal characteristics of youth leaders. The study of ideas about the personal qualities of youth leaders was carried out by content analysis based on the results of an associative experiment. It is shown that the youth leaders of the older generation were more than the leaders of today's youth focused on the manifestation of altruistic, cultural, civil, sports, health and political forms of social activity. The study has showed that the personal effects of social activity are more pronounced in the youth leaders of the modern generation. The universal qualities of the leader's personality are revealed (honesty, purposefulness, charisma, confidence, responsibility, kindness, intelligence and education, focus on self-education and self-motivation). They turned out to be equally significant in the views of young people of both generational groups. An applied aspect of the problem investigated can be realized in the development of programs of youth policy and training of future leaders for various spheres of society.