Leadership Skills For Kids

Are leaders born or made? This is perhaps one of the most quizzical questions to ever have an acceptable answer. While the verdict stands divided on this, you will be glad to know that nearly all kids are born with leadership traits and it only takes capable hands to refine the quality in them. Parents often fret over their children’s eagerness to follow the crowd than stand up and lead. Developing leadership traits in your kids when young can help your child become a trailblazer in the future, than just leading a life of an ordinary follower. Leadership traits are most often latent and it takes time and determination to acknowledge these dormant traits. Leadership skills help children develop confidence in their ability and to take responsibility for their actions. The leadership skills that are most important for kids are not so much about being able to lead other people. Most often, they are about inner leadership - being a leader in your own life, being able to make things happen rather than having things happen to you and so on. To know more on this, read on.

Developing Leadership Skills In Kids

Leadership is not always about leading but mostly serving. As a leader, one’s primary role is to assist his team to accomplish goals. Teach your child the importance of leadership and the virtues of serving. Help him to acknowledge dignity of labor. Also, remember to teach him the vital lesson of placing other’s needs before oneself, while working in a team with regards to common interest.
The best way to teach and develop leadership skills in your child is by example. One of the simplest yet biggest lessons you can give your child to make him a good leader is that he must learn to ‘do unto others as he would have others do unto him’. This is a good way to make the child understand that he should not take undue advantage of the leadership position.
A good leader is one who knows what he wants and communicates his needs effectively to his team. Teach your child the values of communication and incorporate communication skills in him to help him know what he wants and then communicate it clearly to others. It is also important to teach your kids the value of listening. After all, a successful leader is one who listen twice more than he speaks.
Teamwork is the virtue of any good leader. Thus, it is important to teach your kid the vital lesson, ‘united we stand divided we fall’. Teach your child the values of co-operation and collaboration, while working in a team. Teach them to appreciate the efforts of one and all and tell them how working as a team in harmony gets all jobs done easily and efficiently.
One of the biggest lessons you can give your child to make him responsible as a leader is by making him or her to be a good decision maker. For this, you should instill into your child the habit of decision making from young. Ask your child about his/her opinion on any important matter, related to home, school or outside. This would help in making your child a quick decision maker and make him/her take responsible decisions later in life.
Being a leader is never easy as when working in a team, one may have to put up with people of different dispositions, clashing temperaments and conflicting opinions. Teach your children to respect others opinion and be considerate towards differences. There is a thin line between a dictator and leader. While a dictator forces himself on others, a leader compromises and negotiates, for the welfare of all.
A good leader is someone who has a vision and the passion to follow his vision. To accomplish goals, one needs to strategically decipher ways. Teach children how to chalk out a plan of action.

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