How to nurture leadership skills in your child?

Remember this every child has the calibre and capacity in him/her to become a powerful leader in all aspects of his/her life. What is needed is nurturing and good training. But before we learn how to nurture the leadership skills let’s learn what is leadership and what are leadership skills.

What Is Leadership?

Leadership by definition is defined as the action of leading a group of people or an organization or the ability to do this. Leadership per say is not required only to lead a company or country; it is a quality with certain skills that has its value in a lot of areas.

What Are The Leadership Skills?

Leadership skills are the skills that allow a person to take control of his or her life and surge through his or her life successfully. While some of the leadership skills can be inculcated in your child some of them are inherent and can be encouraged through examples and being a guide to your child. Here are some leadership skills that you can nurture in your child

1. Clear communication is the key: A leader should be able to communicate his or her ideas in a clear crisp manner and hence clear communication is the key skill of a leader
2. Motivation plays an important role: Well, we all know this that a good leader is someone who is able to inspire us and motivate us as well to do more. So motivation is another important skill/quality of a leader
3. Know when to delegate: Remember that delegation is not a sign of a weakness instead it is a sign of clarity and strength. A true leader knows that a work has to be done in a best possible way so he or she knows how and when to delegate it to best resources available
4. Positive persona adds to the leadership quality: A leader is always positive in his or her outlook. He or she tackles all the problems through a positive approach and hence is able to solve the problems in an easy way
5. Creativity adds to the personality of a leader: A leader is creative in his or her ideas and come up with some interesting ideas to solve a problem or find ways to lead
6. Leader should be trustworthy: A leader is a person whom everyone trusts blindly that he or she will do justice without being biased towards anyone or any situation

These are some of the basic skills or qualities of a leader, which if your child imbibes will become a leader in true sense.

Why Is It Important To Nurture Leadership Skills?

Considering the competitive world we live in today, it has become imperative that we nurture at least basic leadership skills in your child so that he or she can solve his or her problems on his or her own way. In addition, leader skills allow your child following things

1. To have control of his or her life
2. Have the ability to make things happen
3. Leadership skills will instil confidence in your child
4. Will help your child solve the problems easily
5. Will help your child work in a team

How To Nurture Leadership Skills In Your Child?

Here I am sharing with all the parents a few ways that you can use to hone leadership skills in your prince/princess.

1. Lead by example: There are lot of places/events or situations in your daily life where you are taking on being a leader. Sometimes you voluntarily are doing it and other times the situation would demand it. Wherever you feel it is appropriate start involving your child in these situations, the intention is just to provide role modelling at this point. You may also choose to share with your child the situation and your role
2. Create opportunities for leadership roles: Provide opportunities to your child to encourage and practice taking on leadership roles. For eg. If you are hosting a family dinner or have an event to celebrate at home, ask every family member to take on a role with clear deliverables for the event. In family dinner your child can get all the crockery organized with the help of maid. During the event also as and when some requirement comes up in this area, your child will address it under your supervision
3. Problem solving situations are great start: Create problem solving situations in which your child can take independent decisions. Pick up activities that are related to either child’s immediate environment or his/her interest level
4. Encourage team activities: Encourage participation in team activities. Team activities teaches children lot of important life skills like cooperation, negotiation etc.
5. Help your child to find ways to find solutions to a problem: Target teaching specific skills to your child, skills like breaking down a big task in smaller parts, creating resources to attain a specific goal. For eg. again when you are organizing your child’s birthday party, show him how you are doing the planning and allow him/her to make a few choices. Teach him/her how allocation of work is done and timelines are created. If not teaching at least let him/her observe and ask questions

Last but definitely not the least, always appreciate and praise your child’s every single endeavour where he/she is displaying his/her skills to lead.

Remember! It is not necessary that every child becomes a leader so to speak at all places and in all times, but nurturing skills may certainly create some possibility for them to show up as one.

Taking the charge of things in our own hands is a skill that has to be taught from the young age otherwise when we have to face challenges in life at different fronts or confront situations where resolution and quick decision making is required we often fall into the trap of becoming a victim. So, go on start creating next generation leaders.

Did you like the blog on how to nurture leadership skills in your child? Please share your views and feedback in the comments section below.