How to Develop Leadership Skills in Your Children

Published in SkipRichard.com

Leadership Skills for Kids

We live in a world where powerful leaders are capable of accomplishing great things. No one is born a leader – it’s something that people of worthy character grow to be through their experiences. Everyone deserves to be equipped with the leadership skills they need to make a positive impact in the world. Your children are never too young to learn the foundations of what leadership means.

Here are six ways to develop leadership skills in your children:

1. Increase Access to Information

Many parents feel the need to shelter their children, or censor them from a lot of things. Rather than cutting off access to that information, try to explain it in an age-appropriate way. If there’s a troubling issue happening in the world, allowing your child to see that and understand why an issue is troubling may inspire innovative thinking. Children are the heroes of the future, and you can’t lead the world without that kind of brainpower.

2. Allow Your Authority to Be Questioned

This may feel counterintuitive, but it may be the best thing for your household. Rather than relying on the failsafe “because I said so” response, explain why. Allow your child to ask further questions and barter. Their bartering points won’t always work, but allow them to win these debates when there isn’t much at stake. This will teach your child to negotiate, which is a crucial skill for a leader.

3. Inspire Your Children to Work with Teams

Group activities allow children to understand how a hierarchy works, particularly if roles within these groups shift. Perhaps every child has a turn to choose the activity for team playdates. Children are most likely to select something they feel they’re good at. Everyone will have a chance to learn, and everyone will have a chance to teach. Good leaders need to be willing to learn from other

4. Teach Your Children to Accept Losses

The line between a leader and a bully is much finer than you may think. Bullies, or pushy people, are often unwilling to accept losses. Leaders learn from losses and apply that knowledge to their next attempt. This is how they gain strength and build momentum. When your children lose, don’t allow them to overreact. Tell them that someone has to lose every time, and it’s how that loser proceeds that determines the strength of their character.

5. Empower Your Children

Give your children the ability to make choices for themselves. This may mean allowing them to make mistakes from time to time. If your middle schooler has to both sweep and mop the living room, it’s obvious to you the order in which those things should be done. Sometimes, you should let the child mop first and figure out how to deal with the aftermath. Don’t scold the child. Encourage him to figure out solutions to the problem and build a better strategy. Leaders need to be able to strategize on a moment’s notice. This is a skill that has to be learned.

6. Allow Your Children to be Independent

Leaders find motivation within themselves. They’re able to identify goals and work toward them. Rather than helping your child with everything, offer limited assistance. Give your child time to figure things out. Let your children make their own breakfast, or do their own laundry. They’ll begin to take initiative and create a routine that keeps things running smoothly. Leaders need to be organized and forward thinking, and these skills can be developed in the home.

Your Responsibility

Your greatest responsibility as a parent is to prepare your children for what the future has in store for them. The more prepared they are when they graduate, the less time they’ll need to wait before they start their lives. They’ll thank you for helping them hone their leadership skills as soon as they land their dream job.

Leadership Qualities: Teaching Kids to be Leaders

Published in We Have Kids

List of Qualities of a Good Leader

A good leader will have many qualities. I have narrowed it down to five that I feel are encompassing of other qualities, and as such, can be considered the more important qualities of a good leader.

• Communication

• Confidence

• Integrity

• Work ethic

• Humble & Teachable

As a parent I want my children to be extremely successful and happy, believing that their level of happiness will be their level of success. In short, I want my kids to lead a good and fulfilling life. As the parent of two children I am constantly gaining a further realization at what a monumental task this is. What do I teach them? What experiences can I share to further their journey in life? What skills and attributes do I feel are important to compete and survive in this world?

One of my key philosophies in life is stop and listen. In a hectic world with many distractions, stopping what I am doing and just listen has allowed me to ponder my existence and draw conclusions about life. One such instance of this has to do with the qualities of a leader. This is not to say that I want my children to go out there and be a CEO of some large corporation, but rather I wish my child to learn how to take control of their life and direct it for good. It just so happens that some of these qualities are those that have allowed businessman and women to do well in their line of work.

Whatever your definition of success is, the qualities that leaders should, and many do possess, are ones that parents could use to improve the quality of life for their children.

Teaching Communication Skills

In the early years of life, children quickly develop language skills and progress in their ability to effectively communicate their thoughts and desires.

A leader must have the ability to communicate effectively in a wide variety of situations, whether with employees, consumers, applicants, or the general public. A loss of communication leads to a loss of productivity and confidence.

Here are three tips and ideas to assist in fostering good communication skills with your children:

• The communication game:

Materials: Blocks, crayon/pen and paper, playdough, anything that will allow you to build or create something. All participants must have identical materials.

Participants: 2 to many

Time limit: 7 to 10 minutes

Participants are to face away from each other, and avoid peaking! One person constructs an object using the materials, and as they construct the object of their desire, they communicate with others the process. Each instruction is to be followed by the other participants, using the same materials as the "Master Builder". Once the Master Builder finishes the creation and walking everyone through the steps, all participants can look at how similar their creation is to the participant who instructed. This makes it so children have to rely on listening and giving good instructions to ensure everyone ends up with the same results.

Depending on age level, the adult may want to be the Master Builder for younger ages, and allow older children a chance to be the Master Builder.

• A handshake and hello:

One of the things I taught my son as a toddler was to shake hands and greet people with a, "Hello, how are you?" The simple gesture of physical contact and a genuine interest is a great way for kids to learn to communicate. Here are some things to work on when teaching children to greet in this manner:

1. Eye contact: Maintain before the handshake, during the handshake, and when talking

2. Good grip: Teach them to shake back and not be afraid to squeeze a little to show the other person they are there!

3. Speak clearly: When asking a question or saying hello, make sure the kids are speaking audible and clear

4. Listen: When asking the question, "How are you today?", teach your kids to listen and respond appropriately.

• Charades:

Communication is not all verbal. Allowing children the opportunity to see how their non-verbals are portrayed will assist in them controlling and using non-verbals in an appropriate manner. One such way that this can be accomplished is through the classic game of charades.

Materials: Pieces of paper with items (e.g. a boat), people (e.g. Santa), places (e.g. New York), or events/sports (e.g. baseball), written on them. Each strip of paper should include only one thing to act or gesture out.

Participants: 2 or more - One person is the actor while the rest are the guessers, trying to guess what the actor is portraying. You can play teams where a team may only guess when a teammate is acting, and it is timed for points.

One person randomly selects a strip of paper, reads it to themselves, and using no word or sounds, acts out what was written on the paper. The rest of the participants try to guess what the person is acting out. The person who correctly guesses becomes the next actor.

Teaching Confidence

The quest for high self-esteem is one that many adults struggle with, sometimes even leaders. Teaching your children to have confidence in themselves and their abilities will assist in providing a positive outlook for your child.

Here are a few tips and ideas of how to help your kids develop self confidence:

• Never give up

Instill in your child a never give up attitude. When you yourself are working on a difficult task, enlist the help of your child to give you assistance. When things are overly challenging, emulate a positive attitude and determination with a belief in your combined success. If a child is having difficulty finishing a task, and simply wants to give up, coach them through the process, and praise not only the finished product, but the process and hard work that went into it. This also assist children in gaining problem solving skills while developing a sense of confidence and self worth.

• Make a PBJ sandwich

The concept behind this is to allow your child the ability to explore and make mistakes. Depending on the age you can use variants of this.

Model making a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and then allow your little one to attempt making one as well. Allow the child to make a mess and to try to follow your example. Allowing a child a chance to make mistakes and learn from them will make them more confident in their abilities, especially when those abilities are challenged.

• Plan the menu, do the shopping, cook a meal!

Along the lines of making a PBJ sandwich, allow your child the chance to plan meals for the week, or preparing the shopping list, or even go as far as preparing the meals.

Giving your child a chance to partake in the tasks of daily living will not only give your child necessary independent skills, but will also give them confidence in being independent. This activity can be done with other things, such as learning finances and making purchasing decisions with the family.

Teaching Integrity

I have often heard that integrity is what you do when no one is looking. Integrity deals with honesty and morality. Unfortunately, much of our news today has to do with the lack of honesty and morals, even within leadership. Perhaps the most difficult to teach, integrity is an attribute that will change lives and the world.

Here are three tips and ideas to instill integrity to your children:

• Choose and be a model of integrity

It seems that whenever I read a story about integrity, the speaker always references a role model, usually a parent who had integrity. Being a role model of all these leadership attributes is important, but the references of role models and integrity seem to be linked more than I had realized.

First, you be a model of integrity. Don't force your child to look up to you, but simply live an honest and moral life. Don't do things that you would be embarrassed or ashamed to do if your child caught you doing it. This is easier said then done, but no one said living an honest and moral life is easy.

Use cartoon characters and real life heroes to illustrate and discuss their attributes of being honest and moral. Take time to check out a book and read more about the role models and point out their attributes.

• Take the time to correct

I was in the store with my three-year-old the other day when I saw him fall down (something he does quite often). I asked him why he fell, and he replied, pointing to a lady at the far end of the aisle, that she pushed him. I took my son to the side of the aisle and asked him if she really pushed him, and he continued to say she did. Now, I will remind you, I saw him fall on his own and the lady was nowhere near him, so he was clearly lying. I continued to ask probing questions, like what he was doing, or why did the lady push him, and then ask again if he fell or if the lady pushed him. He finally answered that he fell, and I used this time to tell him that it hurts people, even the lady who could have gotten in trouble had she really pushed him. If the lady had heard I would have made him apologize.

The message here is that it does not matter when or where you are at, when a situation or opportunity arises, use it to correct your child. Do not worry about how others will judge you, worry more about your child.

• Play sports and games, the value of sportsmanship

Play them, and play them often! Whether you enroll your child in a sport or you take one night during the week to play games as a family, use this time to teach the importance of integrity.

Sportsmanship is a great way to learn to respect others, which is key to integrity. It will also give kids the chance to face the reality of cheating, whether they are tempted by it, participate, or see it happen. Having open communication and teaching your child about this will allow an awesome teaching opportunity.

Teaching a Good Work Ethic

I often site my personal accomplishments to the good work ethic that my parents taught to me.

I think of it as the analogy of give a man a fish, he eats for a day, but teach a man to fish and he will eat for a lifetime. Working hard fosters self sufficiency and bolsters self esteem.

Here are three ideas and tips to assist you in teaching your little ones a good work ethic:

• Plant a garden

For those of you who have farmed or worked in fields, you can attest that the physical labor of taking care of plants is tiring, but fulfilling.

Give your child a plot of land, or a few potted plants to tend to. You can also give them a certain plant to take care of in the garden. When I was young my responsibility was to take care of the corn. I would weed it, water, pour mineral oil on the ears to prevent bugs from eating them, and then harvest and shuck. I took great pride in my corn when my family sat down to dinner and ate it.

• Chore chart

Many may already be familiar with a chore chart. Having children help with daily chores is a great way to introduce them to work.

When I was young, my mom had created a paper chore chart with chores listed in three categories. Each category had a pocket, which would house either mine or my siblings name. Our names would rotate from week to week, giving us a new chore list each week.

Nowadays we have technology :)

You can use sites like myjobchart.com, which lets you setup electronic chore charts. They also have the ability to send you a text or email when a child has completed a chore. This interactive alternative is a great way to get kids interested in and motivated to complete their chores, all while instilling in them a desire to work hard!

• Take your child to work

If you are employed, self employed, or are a stay at home parent, let your child follow you around for the day to learn about the ways you work. This modeling will give them a chance to see career options, as well as watch you as you model hard work.

The United States has a foundation, Take Our Daughters and Sons to Work Foundation, that sets aside the fourth Thursday in April for children to attend work with parents, or visit other workplaces to learn more about careers and work.

Teaching Humility and how to be Teachable

To me, a large part of humility and being teachable is self control. It is also being able to realize your weaknesses, admit mistakes, and share your success with others, all while having the knowledge that there is always more you can learn and do.

Here are three ideas on how to teach your child to be humble and teachable:

• The statue game

Materials: A lot of room for wiggling

Participants: One leader and one to many wiggly children

There are several variants of the game, and you may come up with one yourself. The way that I play is by not facing the children, allowing them to wiggle, laugh, jump around, and whatever else they can think of. I then quickly turn around and say, "Statue!" All children must freeze, and may not laugh during this time. Anyone who laughs or moves becomes the leader.

This game allows children a chance to develop self-control.

• What I like about your picture

Materials: Crayons/Paints/Markers/Glitter & Glue/Paper/Scissors

Participants: Two to many

Allow children to create a picture using a theme, like drawing their favorite animal. Once children have completed, have them individually share their pictures. Once an individual has shared their picture, invite remaining students to say things they like about the sharers picture. This can be done in a number of variants, with the focus on children noting things they like about other kids achievements.

Allowing children to see that other people are good at things can be a humbling experience, and teach the child that everyone does things differently, and that is good!

• Provide service

Some of the most humbling experiences are also the ones where I feel I have learned the most, which was usually when providing service to someone. Look for ways and opportunities for your children to provide service to someone else. This can include the following, which should be done with no reward or even in secret:

1. Shoveling snow or raking leaves

2. Making goodies for someone

3. Picking up trash at a park or a trail

4. Writing letters to service men and women

5. Donating unused items like toys and clothes

The qualities of a leader are many, but even learning a few of these attributes and traits will equip and provide your child with the tools necessary to gain independence and do well in the world. As a fellow parent, I wish you well in the difficult yet rewarding task of raising the next generation of leaders.

15 Easy Ways To Develop Leadership Skills In Your Kids

As published in Lifehack.org

Today’s kids are the leaders of tomorrow.Every kid has the potential to be a leader in some area of his or her life. Leaders come from a wide variety of backgrounds and have a large range of personalities; some are outgoing and friendly, and others calm and subtle. Many successful leaders have learned their leadership skills from the influence of mentors. As a parent, you will have opportunities every day to be a role model to your children and instill leadership traits in them.Here are 15 easy ways to develop leadership skills in your kids:

1. Volunteer together

Getting out of the daily grind and spending time serving humanity together will build your relationship with your kids, and expand both of your perspectives on the world. Your children will see firsthand what the needs are in your local community. Tell them about the significant impact they can make in the world by volunteering to help those in need.

2. Teach communication skills

Show them how you celebrate joyfully with others. Let them see you praise people generously and disagree with others respectfully. Help young kids name their emotions by saying things such as “Are you mad because your brother took your toy?” or “Are you frustrated because your tower tipped over?” Nurture their efforts to communicate with others; being an effective leader requires the ability to build relationships, inspire others, and communicate effectively.

3. Encourage them to blaze their own trail

Your children are not you. Remembering that they are unique individuals and supporting them as they pursue their passions and strengths will help them develop into leaders. Your kids may have completely different interests than yours; encourage your children to pursue the lives of their dreams, not the lives of YOUR dreams. When your kids have unconventional ideas, brainstorm together to help them turn their wishes into action.

4. Nurture an entrepreneurial spirit

Help your kids make posters for their lemonade stand and flyers for their lawn mowing business. Assist them with formulating a sales pitch and let them practice saying it to you.

5. Set financial goals with them

In the book “Rich Kid Smart Kid,” author Robert Kiyosaki discusses setting financial goals with your children and helping them form a plan to achieve their goals. Kiyosaki states, “The self-esteem that is built when they achieve those goals is priceless.”

6. Surround them with leaders

Jim Rohn, a businessman, said “You are the average of the people you spend the most time with.” Explain the importance of choosing friends wisely. Also, help your kids seek out positive, successful role models. If your child shows interest in a certain subject, find a mentor who is thriving in that area.

7. Listen

Stress the importance of being an excellent listener. Successful leaders have excellent listening skills and seek to understand others.

8. Promote a “How can I?” rather than an “I can’t” mentality

Promoting a “How can I?” rather than an “I can’t” mentality will boost your kid’s self-esteem and inspire him or her to continue to dream big. When your child is struggling with something and wants to give up, it’s easy to want to jump in and save the day. However, standing back and asking questions, such as, “Do you think there’s another way you could do that?” will help your child use creativity to solve problems, a very important skill for a successful life.

9. Encourage perseverance

It’s hard to watch your kid have his heart broken by his first crush, lose a championship game, or fail a test. But those are the teachable moments that can impact your child for life. One of the best skills you can teach your child is the ability to regroup and move forward.

10. Teach negotiation skills

Give them opportunities to negotiate with others for win-win solutions, starting at home.

11. Model integrity and accountability

Show them how you build others up with your words and actions. Keep your word. Be there for others and teach your kids to do the same. And as difficult as it can be, do your best to take the high road when you are wronged by others. Point out to your kids the importance of admitting their mistakes.

12. Promote teamwork

Participation in team activities gives kids opportunities to develop valuable traits that will benefit them their whole lives. Teamwork helps kids learn to cooperate with others, support their teammates, aim toward a common goal, control their emotions, communicate effectively, and do their share of work when others are relying on them.

14. Give them choices

Offer young kids the option of choosing between items such as two healthy snacks or two sippy cups. As your kids get older, gradually give options requiring more thought. Giving your kids choices helps them feel they’re in control of situations, and fosters their decision-making capabilities, which helps them build confidence.

15. Emphasize the value of reading

Reading opens kids’ minds to new possibilities and expands their world.

5 Simple Leadership Activities & Games for Kids:

Published in Unicef

Learning leadership skills from a young age can provide kids with an excellent head start in life. Even if they have personalities that are not automatically predisposed to leading other people, it can be extremely valuable to learn different leadership techniques to develop confidence and overall mental well being.

5 Simple Leadership Activities & Games for Kids:

We’re going to go through some of the best leadership activities for kids that you can easily replicate and teach. Before you know it, you’ll be swarming with the next generation of the world’s leaders!

Same or Different

Get your kids to sit in a circle and face each other. Choose one of them to go first. They should look around the circle and point out someone who they believe they look similar to. Once they’ve chosen someone, have them explain what their similarities are. Afterwards, they should talk about differences. The key is to get your kids to understand that they will always enjoy what’s in common with each other, even though they have differences too. They key is to normalize this. This will bolster your kids confidence in themselves physically and mentally.

Leader of the Blindfolded

Round your kids up into a group and then choose one of them to step aside. Whoever is remaining has to be blindfolded. It is then up to the person who is removed from the group to guide the group of blindfolded kids across the room with clear and easy to understand commands. Time the process to see how long it takes, and encourage other kids to get involved and be the leader. You can create friendly competition by giving a prize to whoever gets their group across the quickest. Make sure everyone gets a turn at being a leader and experiment with different environments. This is a fantastic confidence builder for the leader as well as an awesome trust exercise.

The Listener

Split the room up into pairs and have each set of kids find somewhere private to sit. One person the group is to be designated “The Listener”. Stress the importance of this role heavily so they begin to understand what will be expected of them as a leader. Their job is to listen to the other person talk about themselves and take notes. The kid who is talking should be encouraged to talk about basic information such as where they are from, age, favorite activities etc. It is up to “The Listener” to listen carefully and note down this information. Once they’ve finished, it’s your job to quiz “The Listener” on the information they have found out about their partner. The more they’ve listened, the more information they will have. This is a great way of learning the invaluable management skill of listening to employees and people below you, to ensure a harmonious work environment. After they’ve finished, have them swap around and have the talker become “The Listener”.

This is Me!

As you will have figured by now, confidence is key to building up leadership skills in kids from an early age. One of the best activities to foster and unlock this type of confidence is called This is Me! It’s quite self-explanatory, the game is a celebration of the self. Get your kids to grab a piece of paper and draw themselves on it. Not only that, but encourage them to put things on there that they think help define their identities. This can be things such as zip codes to areas where they are from, or a cut out from a magazine of one of their favorite athletes or celebrities. Once they have finished creating this shrine to themselves, have them swap with other kids in the room and get them to compare differences and what they have in common. This is an instrumental technique in ensuring kids become comfortable in who they are and what they wish to represent.

Direct the Egg

Split your group of kids into two and give each side an egg. The aim of the game is to get them to ferry the egg across the room in the most interesting and creative way possible. Of course one technique could just simply be to pick up the egg and walk over the other side of designated area. But that’s not the type of activity that you should be encouraging. Allow the kids to appoint their own leader in this task and give them an appropriate amount of agency. Don’t restrict them from doing anything in particular unless of course it is a threat to health and safety. Analyze the ways in which they choose to move this egg across the room. How many people do they get involved? Are they making sure everybody is made to feel useful? As you can see, a wealth of leadership skills can be cultivated and blossom from this task.

Kids Leadership Final Thoughts

We hope you find the activities listed here to be helpful and engaging. Remember, some kids are more naturally talented when it comes to leadership skills than others. This gives them an advantage, but it’s still your job to encourage and foster these habits to ensure they are used properly. On the flip side, just because a kid isn’t showing natural leadership qualities doesn’t mean they can’t yet be molded into a great leader. That’s what these activities are here for after all. Have fun directing and encouraging the leaders of tomorrow!

Leadership instills confidence, and helps children solve problems creatively

Published by Penn State University

Leadership and children

Leadership instills confidence, and helps children solve problems creatively, work in a team, and work collaboratively with others.

Why leadership?

Leadership skills allow children to have control of their lives and the ability to make things happen. Leadership instills confidence, and helps children solve problems creatively, work in a team, and work collaboratively with others. Leadership gives children many opportunities to develop responsibility.

While you may not find the word leadership in the early learning standards, many states have statements related to leadership in their standards in the social-emotional section. Key phrases that relate to leadership are “self-confidence”, “problem solving”, “pro-social,” and “makes independent decisions and choices.” For example, in Pennsylvania’s Pre-Kindergarten Early Learning Standards for social and emotional development skills for children include “Know and state independent thoughts and feelings” (25.1.1 Self Awareness) and “Participate in new experiences with confidence and independence” (25.1.3 Competence).

Are leaders born or made?

There is some debate whether some children are “born leaders” or they “learn to be” leaders. All children have the potential to develop leadership skills. Leadership development can be a lifelong process. As adults, we can teach the skills necessary for children to take on leadership roles now and in the future. Here are some ways that you can help children develop leadership skills:

• Model leadership behavior to children. Children learn from seeing what others do. Tell the child what you are doing and why you are doing it.

• Teach children how to see things from another’s point of view. Good communication is a key component to being an effective leader. Teach children how to listen carefully and how to respond to others in a calm and respectful way.

• Help children build self-confidence. Give children opportunities to do a good job and offer praise when appropriate. You might say, “I am so proud of you that you volunteered to be the leader of the ‘toy clean up’ team in your classroom. It is a big job to make sure all your classmates are doing their part.”

• Find ways to create problem solving situations. Children can learn how to solve their own problems. Allow children to start making small decisions such as which activity they want to participate in and then give them more opportunities to make decisions as they learn the concepts of responsibility and consequences of making a decision.

• Give children the opportunity to take leadership roles in the
  classroom. Create leadership situations in the form of classroom jobs.Children can lead by becoming the classroom “greeter”, “paper/supply
  manager”, “line leader,” or “attendance taker”. Teachers should inform
  children of the responsibilities of each classroom job and guide them as they take on that leadership role. Children should have the opportunity to try various leadership jobs within the classroom.

• Teach children how to work with others in a team situation. Group projects or sports activities are ways for children to work on a team.

• Assist children to develop a plan or strategy to address a problem or situation. Children, as well as adults, shy away from leadership tasks because they feel overwhelmed. Show children how to break tasks into workable ways to get the job done.

• Encourage children to pursue things that interest them. They may develop a passion for it and feel comfortable and later take on a leadership role.

• Encourage parents to look for leadership opportunities for children. Leadership opportunities can be in your child care program or another program at a school, church, community or club. Children can also take a leadership role in a family event.

• Encourage communication and action. Leadership involves speaking up or taking action. You can encourage children’s leadership abilities by suggesting projects or identifying problems that may be important to them and helping them to come up with suggestions for actions and possible solutions.

Examples:

• During the holiday season, many organizations hold canned food or coat drives. Ask children in your care to think about what they would like to do to help. Have them choose another group to work with, such as the local elementary school, and decide how they would like to help.

• Some children might become concerned about a little puppy or other another animal in a story you are reading. They wonder what can be done to help animals. Ask them for ideas about what they would do for the puppy if they were in the story. The teacher can write down or have the children draw pictures of their ideas and have a discussion about caring for animals.

“Children are great imitators. So give them something great to imitate.”– Anonymous

Teaching children how to be a leader at a young age will help children deal with peer pressure in the teenage years. Being a leader is not an exact science, but teaching children the skills needed to be leaders are important to help prepare the next generation to take the lead and become responsible adults.

Resources to use to help build skills related to leadership development.

• Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children – Pennsylvania’s Promise for Children is a campaign to raise awareness about the importance of providing Pennsylvania’s young children with access to quality early learning opportunities. This source gives ideas on how to include children and their families to take the lead in promoting community early learning events in their community. http://paprom.convio.net

• National Association for the Education of Young Children – NAEYC’s mission is to serve and act on behalf of the needs, rights and well-being of all young children with primary focus on the provision of educational and developmental services and resources. NAYEC has many online journal articles and position statements related to leadership and early learning and education. http://www.naeyc.org

• Pennsylvania Early Learning Standards – The Pennsylvania Early Childhood Education Standards are research-based standards that identify key learning areas of development for children and are reflected in the Core Body of Knowledge competencies. The standards guide practitioners to intentionally integrate developmental knowledge with the attitudes, skills, and concepts children need to make progress in all learning areas. http://www.pakeys.org/page/get.aspx?page=career_standards

• Week of the Young Child – is an annual celebration sponsored by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC). The purpose of the Week of the Young Child™ is to focus public attention on the needs of young children and their families and to recognize the early childhood programs and services that meet those needs. This source gives ideas about how to include children and their families to take the lead in community events related to the Week of the Young Child. http://www.naeyc.org/woyc

10 Simple Ways to Develop Leadership Skills in Your Children

Published in Inc Magazine

Every child has the potential to be a leader. Some may have more traits associated with leadership, but any child's leadership ability, at whatever level, can be groomed and nurtured.

Here are some simple things parents (and grandparents, teachers, coaches, aunts, uncles, and neighbors) can do to help develop children's potential for leadership:

1. Be the kind of leader you want them to become. As with most things, the best lesson is your example. One great way to let children see your leadership in action is to volunteer for community work together. Show them what it means to be passionate about community and others, and let them experience how it feels to make an impact on another person's life.

2. Allow them to pave their own path. Let your children create their own path and purpose without interference. Allow them to be their unique individual selves. Support them and nurture them; shine the light on their passions and strengths and help them become leaders of their own lives.

3. Show them ways to succeed. Set up goals and small projects they can be successful at. They'll gain valuable self-esteem and confidence by mastering new skills as they get the job done.

4. Generate a circle of trailblazers. Make sure your children know people who are blazing trails and are achieving things in the world, making an impact and making a difference. Allow them to learn from them firsthand what it takes to be a leader and to be successful.

5. Seek to understand them so they can learn to understand others. Teach your kids the importance of listening to yourself and to others. One of the most important qualities of a leader is the skill of listening, and the earlier it's learned the more intuitive it becomes.

6. Teach them to be winners. It's hard to watch your child start something and then want to quit. Unless the situation is truly untenable, use the opportunity to teach them perseverance and tenacity. If the issue is that they aren't doing as well as they'd like, remind them that even Michael Jordan didn't make the first team he tried out for.

7. Help them learn to be great communicators. Communication is the cornerstone of both leadership and relationships. Teach your children to say what they mean and mean what they say. Nurture their communication skills and you give them the ability to build relationships and inspire others.

8. Emphasize the importance of teamwork. Teamwork helps children learn to get along with others, to work and cooperate across differences. Learning to work effectively in a team is one of the most important skills you can impart.

9. Show the importance of character. Out of all the lessons you can teach a child, I believe the most important is the importance of character. A child who can learn the foundation of trust, honesty, respect and integrity will be ready for a lifetime of successful leadership, partnerships and relationships.

10. Encourage an open mind and heart. Give children experiences that teach them about diversity and inclusion. Show them the value of multiple perspectives and the importance of equality. Keep your own mind and heart open and the odds are good that your children will follow suit.

Developing Leadership Skills in Children: 11 Ways to Grow Your Kids

Published March 2018 in Let’s Grow Leaders

When we talk about developing leadership skills in children, we’re often met with a sigh, “Oh my kids not ready for that…” And yet,  most of us take a deliberate approach to developing other skills in our kids early on. We teach them to swim, to ride a bike, to read, and read music, as early as we can. Leadership development should be no different. The earlier we can develop leadership skills in children the more natural these skills will feel.

11 Ways to Develop Leadership Skills in Children

Start with lots of love and building self-esteem. Too many grown-ups with power mess things up because they’re still dealing with childhood muck. Be a role model, and know they’re always watching. Beyond that, here are a few of our favorite approaches for building leadership skills in children.

1. Teach them to give.

Join them in volunteer activities talk about the “why” as much as the “what.” Help them look for needs in everyday situations, and to consider how they can improve the scene. Help young children delight in giving and call it leadership. Averie’s experiences building homes in Mexico as a child shaped her leadership roles in college and her eventual career. Learning the servant part of servant leadership is as important as anything else when helping your children develop as leaders. You can help them to find the joy in their work and school assignments.

2. Talk to them like grown-ups.

Young children are smarter than they look. Talk about current events. Expose them to people who think differently than you and help them learn to listen and respectfully articulate their own point of view.

3. Give them a say in some family decisions.

Pick some decisions where you don’t need control. Invite your young children to brainstorm creative options. Encourage each family member to listen to one another’s viewpoints before deciding as a family.

4. Nurture a love of reading.

Read together and talk about the characters and relationships in the stories. For a list of great books to read with your young children click here. (one of the most popular posts every on Let’s Grow Leaders)  We would love to have you add your additional suggestions in the comments on that post (we received some great additions from other readers.)

5. Bring them along and give them a role.

Kids love to see mommy and daddy in action. We’ve taken our children with us as we work and travel, given them concrete roles ranging from working the Verizon booth at a Festival to working the expo floor and promoting our book in Singapore. We’ve explained what we’re doing and why, and ask for their insights. Seb has seen our Diaper Genie™ talk so many times he can give it himself. See also  A Great Way to Teach Your Kids About Leadership.

6. Admit when you screw up.

Talk about your leadership mess-ups. Kid’s need to know that leaders aren’t perfect and that mistakes are all part of their learning. One of the best ways to develop leadership skills in children is to show them you’re still growing too.

7. Hang out with other leaders

So they can see leaders are regular people too. We’ve even included Sebastian on some of our Skype conversations in prepping for our International work—makes it much more meaningful when they meet in person. Sebastian has built his own relationships with leaders around the world and that can be fun for the whole family. Averie regularly spent time with David’s team-leaders, Directors, and Board members, developing her own friendships and business role-models.

8. Teach them to craft and deliver a great prayer (or toast) at family gatherings.

“Let’s talk about why we’re gathered and what people may want God to hear ” or “Let’s find some words that would make everyone here feel special before we sit down to eat.” It’s so much fun to see what they come up with. After a few times with some guided help, it’s likely all they’ll need is a nod from you and they’ll know what to do.

9. Encourage connections.

Cultivate an awareness of other people, each person’s dignity, and the negative effect of labels. Help them to connect by showing interest. If you want to learn about networking for you or your children this is the post.

10. Help them find their own voice.

Help them find cultivate their passions and to talk and write about what they love. If you can get them on a stage early on, it will make speaking to an audience seem like a natural part of life. They might by-pass that fear of so many grown-ups by speaking early and often.

11. Ask great questions.

Asking great questions is one of the best ways to help your managers be more strategic. It’s also a great way to develop leadership skills in your kids. “What’s another approach we could try?” “Why do you think that happened?” “What’s the next best choice we could make here?”

Developing leadership skills in children is one of the most important ways to grow our future. Investing just a little time with any of these techniques each week can go a long way in helping your children grow.

If you enjoyed this post, or are a parent looking to help your children develop leadership skills,  you can download a FREE ebook Karin wrote in collaboration with Alli Polin a few years ago, write as she was starting Let’s Grow Leaders.  A Parent’s Guide to Leadership.

And stay tuned… we have an exciting Let’s Grow Leaders growing leadership skills in children surprise coming later this year.