8 Leadership Skills To Nurture Your Child Into A Leader

Kids are never born with leadership skills naturally.

They are nurtured and influenced through different stages of their lives, by their parents and the environment.

Every kid has the potential to be a leader in some area of his or her life. Some kids are outgoing and friendly, while others are calm and steady.

As a parent, we want to find opportunities to instill leadership skills in our kids. Many great leaders who are also parents are a strong role models and influence to their kids.

But what if you are not one of these leaders?

There is nothing to worry about. Your child will learn significant life lessons and leadership skills throughout their lives. Many times it is the small actions or words we say that influence their perspectives and learnings.

Want to know how you can play an important role in building a future leader? Here are 8 ways you can do so!

Encourage better communication skills 

Show them how you praise others and disagree gracefully.

If you are always shouting at everyone, they will think that shouting is the right way to go. Be generous with your encouragement, whether it is with family members or strangers.

Leadership skills include the ability to build relationships, inspire, and communicate. Without these skills, no leader can achieve his goals and reach greater heights.

Listen to their needs

Start listening to what your kid is saying from the moment they can start expressing themselves.

Many parents have no problems brushing their kids away when they are on their mobile phones or doing something else. By not listening to what your kid was saying, you are indirectly teaching them that it is okay to disrespect others when they deem the problem unimportant.

The art of listening is another important leadership skill every leader needs to have.

Encourage perseverance

It can be difficult when you watch your child struggle to complete a task or fail a test. You want to help him out to make things easier for him. And to see that smile on his face.

However, there are times that as parents, our over helpfulness caused our kids to mishandle the situation. Instead of presenting the solution to them, encourage them by making them ponder further, and think out of the box. Many times you will find that eventually, they will think of solutions much better than us.

You want to create a problem solver, not one who waits around for solutions.

Motivate negotiation skills

There is a difference between talking back and negotiating for something. When you are bargaining at the flea market, you aren’t talking back to the stall owner, are you?

Start teaching them to negotiate at home, but do not turn it into a heated argument. For example, I like to set difficult homework tasks for my eldest and allow him to negotiate to a lesser workload based on his terms. We will then come to a mutual agreement, a win-win situation.

Provide them with choices

Allow your kids to choose between a couple of choices, whether it is the snacks they want or the ice cream flavors they prefer. Avoid making decisions for them to promote decision-making capabilities and enhancing their confidence.

As your kids grow up, offer them choices that require them to put on their thinking hats. Sometimes, the choices they choose might not be ideal but let them be. It is good for them to learn about consequences as well.

Encourage team activities

As you get to understand your child better, find out what his interests or talents lie in. Have your child participate in team activities through sports, summer camp trips, or in the school band.

Your child will learn many valuable lessons through teamwork, such as learning how to communicate better and expressing his thoughts clearer to the team. Learning to lead a team is also crucial to bring out the leader in him.

Promote the love for reading

Start your child’s love for books from a young age. Open their minds to a new dimension through informative books or fairy tales.

Books promote creativity and curiosity in young children, and the more they ask questions, you know that your child is using his imagination to the fullest. The road to becoming a leader includes asking questions, and having that courage is one of the first things to have.

Reward an optimistic mindset

Optimism is connected to a growth mindset. When you are teaching your child to do something, allow them to make mistakes without beating themselves up.

Teach them to do up a list and prioritize.

At the end of the task, have them look back at their progress regardless of what was achieved.

Reward them with snacks or praises even if they did not achieve their final goal. You want to teach them to focus on how much they have progressed from the starting point and have them pat themselves on their backs because learning is an ongoing process that never stops.

Final Thoughts 

Honing your child’s leadership skills takes much effort and encouragement, and it starts with us. Different ages call for different styles of nurturing and shaping their thought process.

Our kids mimic our movements and way of speech. And besides, when we are portraying positive behaviors, we are helping to improve ourselves too. A growth mindset and having important traits like responsibility and communication skills are crucial for handling situations at work.

By allowing your child to explore her options and learning about consequences, you are expanding her exposure to more leadership skills, thus creating a greater future leader.

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