Kids Who Become Great Leaders Have Parents Who Teach These 8 Unique Life Lessons

by Irene

Have you ever sat down and admired someone because of their strong leadership traits?

I have often crossed paths with kids. And I’m somehow fascinated when I meet this special group of preteens, normally about age 12 doing exemplary things I only wished I could have been able to perform at age 20.

Life is dynamic, ha!

But wait, were these kids born leaders?

Not really,

According to Behavioral Theory, leadership can be learned.

Yes, mama,

And although some people have natural leadership qualities, the majority of exemplary leaders are made.

One publication cites that outstanding leaders can either be born or made.

In fact, inborn leadership traits may only account for about 30%.

The remaining leadership qualities and skills result from life experiences and learning leadership development programs.

And that is how a home, more so you, a parent comes in as the best teacher to model an outstanding leader.

This post digs deep into factors that can model a future outstanding leader from a young age. It’s about what parents can teach their kids if they desire to mould them into future kings.

Keep reading.

Parents Who Raise Great Leaders Do  These 8 Unique Things

 

1. They push their kids to be self-driven from a young age

According to phycologists, kids may be naturally motivated to learn until they are six to seven years old.

Afterwards, they need the ability to motivate themselves.

Motivated people are generally proactive.

Being proactive is a vital skill if they’re to succeed in future, more so if they want to lead.

No one will be there to push your child, so allowing them to have more control over their life at a young age is paramount in building their leadership muscles.

Most parents are like tyrants.

We want to offer commands right and left without ever imagining that these same kids will one day outgrow our arms.

Parents who raise future great leaders allow their kids an opportunity to be in control of their life.

They have learned to balance between authoritarian and laissez- parenting styles.

These parents understand that a child should be given just the right amount of independence and guidance.

Allowing your kid some level of independence helps build their capacity to set goals, and perform tasks without being pushed around by others.

Consequently, these parents have mastered the art of cultivating optimism by encouraging their kids to focus on solutions, not problems.

They instill a sense of self-worth in their kids by providing positive attention through affirmation.

They also appreciate the initiatives and efforts kids put into providing solutions rather than concentrating on the end result.

They understand that showing love and appreciation helps make kids feel capable and deserving of good things.

These parents make success possible by giving the child opportunity to try and succeed. This ensures that the child experiences the positive emotions of succeeding after s struggle. And after all is said and done, They celebrate their kid’s progress and success.

Have you tried encouraging your kid to be self-driven? Please share what is working out for you.

2. They build their kid’s esteem and confidence earlier on

Parents who raise exemplary leaders understand the value of instilling confidence and self-worthiness at a younger age.

Confidence is like a car engine. It can ignite you to dream big and take action.

You may be skilled, but you need the confidence to tackle life head-on to avoid being left at the mercy of mediocrity.

With confidence, we’re more likely to engage with people and take up opportunities and challenges.

According to Ernest, a family therapist at Bungoni Counseling Centre, self-confidence can decrease anxiety— the number one factor that makes people back away from opportunities.

With confidence, a child will likely gain more motivation to perform various tasks without fear of failure.

Leadership is all about having confidence in one’s abilities.

Parents who raise outstanding future leaders understand the importance of instilling confidence by creating a positive environment for living and learning.

They show their kids affection and support their efforts when trying out new things.

But why should they do all these things?

The answer lies here.

When a child feels unsupported or criticized by important people in their lives, especially their parents, they tend to doubt themselves as not being good enough.

They will also doubt their abilities and their self-worth. At the end of it all you raise an adult who can’t stand for anything but follow along without questioning.

3. They encourage risk-taking from the early years

Risk involves jumping into the unknown. It’s taking a chance, like trying something new with the possibility of failing or succeeding. Nevertheless, once in a while, we must all take risks.

Taking chances is one of the most crucial ways of helping to advance one’s skills and gain experience.

Risky taking in early childhood can help develop a child’s self-confidence, resilience, risk-management and execution skills.

Parents who raise great leaders do a little of safe and risky activities.

They understand that children who engage in risky play develop skills to handle feelings of nervousness and fear.

These two feelings normally come along with trying new things, and if you can’t deal with them you can’t lead and grow.

Risky play activities for kids

  • Allow your kids to climb up objects. They normally start with your chairs and slowly graduate to more interesting objects. Be sure to guide them to lower the risk of hurting themselves.
  • Allow them to skate or ride bikes to learn about balancing.
  • Let them experience speed like on slides or a log swing.
  • Teach them to handle dangerous tools like knives, hammers or saws.
  • Create opportunities for them to deal with risky elements like fire when cooking.
  • Allow them to engage in rough-and-tumble play with others.

Great leaders recognize that to be innovative; they will need to be able to take risks.

Risk-taking is a critical skill; research shows that leaders who take risks are more likely to be positively perceived by their employees, regardless of whether they succeed.

4. They stimulate curiosity in their kids.

Parents with the intention of raising great leaders master the art of stimulating curiosity in their kids.

Curiosity makes your mind active. It pushes you to question and want to do things differently.

If you stimulate curiosity in your child, they will become innovative.

By constantly engaging their mind in solution-finding missions, you indirectly strengthen their brain muscles.

As they grow, their mind gains better clarity in solving complicated issues, thus providing solutions to their environment.

As you teach or train your kids to be curious, always remember to be moderate.

Sometimes being too curious may make one miss opportunities. Also, asking too many questions can lead to nosiness which, in turn, makes people look at you as annoying instead of intelligent.

Tips for nurturing curiosity in kids

  • Expose your child to a different environment. Refrain from confirming them too much in one place. You may visit places to see different natural or artificial features. This helps them appreciate diversity and different ways of doing things.
  • Include open-ended questions in your conversations. Open-ended questions don’t have a right or wrong response. These type of question also requires explanation and justification. How was your experience when you tried…? These questions develop your kid’s thought process. Be sure to help them in forming perceptions concerning.
  • Come up with open-ended activities; Try to limit the use of toys that are designed to be used in a specific way. Instead, work with things you can modify to stimulate imagination, like boxes: sand, blocks or even water. Try to limit instructions and allow your child to make whatever they want.
  • Incorporate story time in your routines to stimulate your imagination.
  • Allow your child to take the lead. Find out their interest and build on that.
  • Answer questions in a simple way based on your baby’s developmental stage. Try to establish their views first before proceeding to give your opinion.
  • Create a loving and exciting environment. A home is your kid’s first school, and it helps shape your kid’s perception of life. Create a conducive living environment with good places to play and explore.

5. They teach the value of resilience

Parents who want to raise leaders understand the importance of teaching the value of being resilient.

They encourage their children to embrace delayed success or failure as a learning curve rather than a setback.

Building resilience early on allows your kid to adapt to everyday stress and adversity: threats and tragedy.

Resilient children can recover from setbacks and return to living more quickly. They understand that life is constantly changing and that our failures are literally life lessons.

Parents who raise future leaders understand that when children overcome setbacks and problems, it builds their confidence and helps them feel more capable the next time a problem arises.

So

How do you build resilience in kids?

  • Set reasonable goals and help them to move toward them one step at a time. Establishing goals will help children focus on a specific task and can help build the resilience to move forward in the face of challenges.
  • Teach your children how to manage emotions. Let them know that all their feelings, including the worst ones, are okay. Teach them how to label and validate emotion and the power of time in making them feel better.
  • Teach them to appreciate their effort. Please help your child remember ways they have successfully handled hardships in the past. Also, help them understand how these past challenges have helped build the strength to address future challenges.
  • Teach them about the faculty of perspective and its role in maintaining a hopeful outlook.
  • Look for opportunities for self-discovery. Help your kid learn their strengths and weaknesses by handling different situations.
  • Help your children learn to accept change. Change can be scary, especially for children. Help your child see change is part of life by helping them adopt different ways of doing things.
  • Teach delayed gratification
  • Encourage gratitude

6. They encourage self-reflection and learning.

Self-reflection is a highway to growth. It’s a physical act that forms a deeper connection with oneself (soul and spirit).

Encouraging your kids to take a step back to reflect makes space for them to discover their attributes and feeling.

Why?

Because self-reflection forces one to examine their beliefs, attitudes and actions. This is a vital part of leadership, personal change and growth.

Parents who raise exemplary leaders train their children on the value of having quiet time with themselves. They teach their kids how to identify end build on their strengths. They also help kids to label their weakness and how to manage it.

These parents encourage their children to lean on what makes them happy and can be a source of motivation.

They help their children to write down the things in their life, big or small, that bring them joy. Also, they help kids identify things that bring them stress and anxiety.

How to install the act of self-reflection in kids

  • Teach your child to schedule time for themselves away from distractions.
  • Teach relevant questions they need to ask themselves for effective self-evaluation and encourage honesty.
  • Help them learn how to journal and write down Insights.
  • Do it as a routine

Additionally, cultivate a culture of learning in your kids. You can only be an exemplary leader by sharpening your axe. Learning is the only activity that opens the unknown world.

How to help your kid develop a love of learning

  1. Create a reading space or a min- library in your house
  2. Focus on your child’s interest
  3. Encourage different types of learning styles
  4. Share your enthusiasm for learning
  5. Incorporate game-based learning methods
  6. Storytelling

7. They teach empathy from a tender age

Parents who raise young leaders understand and teach their kids the importance of showing empathy towards others.

Empathy means recognizing and acknowledging someone’s emotions.

Empathy is crucial for a leader because it encourages tolerance and acceptance of others.

Parents who raise exemplary leaders teach their kids to respect other people’s perspectives on any matter without being judgmental.

They need to learn how to recognize emotion in another person and to communicate the understanding of another person’s emotions.

How to teach empathy

  • Start by validating your child’s feelings by labelling them. This will help them feel safe when expressing their feelings. If they feel secure and comfortable with their own emotions, they can easily relate to the emotions of others.
  • Allow your kid to participate in community service activities: This helps them to engage with people in need
  • Use stories to start and teach empathy
  • Role-play different scenarios

8. They teach the value of giving back to society.

Any parent who wants to raise future leaders must instil the value of giving back.

Teaching children to volunteer from a young age helps to boost their self-esteem and have reverence for the essence of communal and co-existence

Giving instils a sense of empathy. It can also help your kid to see a world beyond themselves.

And not just that.

Giving is an act of generosity that sets your child on a path to make a difference in others’ lives. As they enrich others they create openings for greater networks and growth.

Parents who raise great leaders model generosity in their kids by teaching them the importance of sharing. You deliberately do the giving back activities together and encourage their kids to lend a helping hand when they see someone in need.

Additionally, they’ve learned to praise the generous impulse in their kids and above all create opportunities to serve others.

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