Seven Key Rules of Parent Leadership
Being a Role Model for Your Children in Difficult Times
Feb 19, 2009
There is no doubt that parenting is one of the most rewarding and also one of the most difficult jobs anyone takes on. It’s keeping kids safe in a troubled world, helping them realize their potential and instilling good values that will sustain them when their parents are not there to guide them.
It’s sharing dreams, opening the door to life’s possibilities and helping children achieve their goals and ambitions.
Parents Assume the Mantle of Leadership
Whether they want that role or not, parents are leaders because their children naturally look up to them for sustenance and security from the day they are born. Parent leadership is the guts of parenting. Unfortunately, it is not easy to take the helm today when society seems bent on undermining parental authority.
Parent Leaders Must Meet the Challenge
It is difficult for parents to get their messages through the spam off the Internet and when today’s heroes are media inventions with feet of clay, and when so many elected officials devalue the moral principles they were sworn to uphold.
To counteract these negative influences, more than ever before, parents must assume the mantle of leadership. They can do this by understanding and applying the principles of successful leadership to their own behavior.
Taking a Cue from the Workplace
Leaders can be found in all walks of life: in politics, the arts, sciences, education, etc. By adapting the behaviors that made them successful, parents will be able to inspire and motivate their "followers."
The Seven Key Leadership Principles
- Successful leaders create a “vision” that becomes the basis for their actions and decisions. The vision might be living the golden rule, service to the community, encouraging creativity, commitment to education, dedication to a religious, moral or ethical code.
- They communicate this vision clearly so others understand it and want to make it part of their own behavior.
- Leaders are true to their vision, especially in challenging times. We say they “walk the walk and talk the talk.”
- Leaders build trust and loyalty by being honest and fair-minded.
- They are courageous and are not afraid to stand up for what they believe in.
- Good leaders are open to learning and demonstrate a respect for new ideas.
- Leaders learn from their mistakes and are not afraid to admit their failures.
While it is true that the principles of leadership are more often identified with the workplace than the home front, these principles can be adapted to all types of parenting styles. Every mother and father can be a leader in his or her own family.
Begin by formulating your vision for your children and communicating that vision in word and deed.
The goal for every parent leader is to create happy, self-confident human beings who, in turn, will become ethical citizens of the community and the world at large.
 |
