Can anyone be a leader? Is the title reserved for the famous or is there a leader within everyone of us? It can be said that extroverts tend to take the lead when it comes to group projects or those with interpersonal intelligence are able to stir up a crowd or team and lead them to victory. It takes the Martin Luther King Jr.’s and John Wooden’s of the world to rally the people and lead us toward greatness. But there is also a leader within every person. We are each gifted with particular talents that only we can give to the communities in which we live. Our personal journey toward the best versions of ourselves is the quest to discover the leader within. There is only one you who is on a journey to find that best version of yourself. Children will believe this if we point it out to them and help them to recognize how they are talented, capable, and uniquely gifted. Give your child opportunities to lead with their interests and abilities. Whatever our brain does a lot of, is what it gets good at. Therefore, providing opportunities to lead will create leaders.
Leadership is an accumulation of other strong habits. When we practice positive and productive intellectual and personal habits of mind, we grow the fruits of a healthy well being. I strongly believe that every child has leadership capacity in his/her own right. The unique gifts and talents brewing within can lead an industry, a sport, a mission, and a household. To educate (educe) or parent (bring forth), is to draw out those qualities and watch a child lead in his/her family, school, and community. When we discover our purpose and develop the skills and confidence to be really good at that purpose, we lead. Our nurturing and encouragement supports this quest and is alive in every child.
The primary habits that make up leadership include two sets that we promote at AACA (TRRFC & 7 Habits of Highly Effective People). Speak, write, and practice these with your children and we’ll watch them grow into great kids and great leaders!
TeRRiFiC Citizens are Trustworthy – Respectful – Responsible – Fair and Caring people who practice the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People:
- Be Proactive
- Begin with the End in Mind.
- Put First things First.
- Think Win Win
- Seek First to Understand, Then to be Understood
- Synergy
- Sharpen the Saw; Heart, Mind, Body, & Soul
Learning Links
- Forbes – 5 Similarities Between Leadership And Parenting
- Video – Leadership and Effective Collaboration (enjoy the laugh)
- Leadership Development – Leadership Begins at Home
- The Leader in Me
“You can do what I cannot do. I can do what you cannot do. Together we can do great things.”- Mother Teresa
