By Jenna Sherman | August 2020
Use these strategies to teach your child key leadership skills early on, and you’ll watch her blossom in youth and beyond.
Books About Leadership Every Parent Should Read
What does it mean to be a leader? If that’s not a question you can easily answer, spend time educating yourself on what leadership looks like today. These are the essential titles that every parent should read, whether you’re new to leadership or just need a refresher.
- The Leadership Challenge: Although designed for organizations, this book by James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner is full of great lessons for parents who want to nurture their child’s leadership potential.
- The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: This book is a best-seller for a reason. Learn the seven imperatives of leadership in Stephen R. Covey’s classic read.
- Dare to Lead: Brene Brown’s 2018 release dives deep into the importance of empathy, connection, and courage in leadership.
Childrens’ Books About Little Leaders
These books are great for parents learning more about leadership, but they don’t make the best bedtime stories. For kid-friendly options, Huffington Post says to turn to these children’s books that make lessons in leadership accessible to young readers.
- The Giving Tree: The Giving Tree explores what it means to put others’ needs first.
- First Day Jitters: This fun story teaches little kids an important lesson about courage.
- Beautiful Oops: This book demonstrates that mistakes aren’t something to fear. Instead, they can be the start of something great.
The Best Strategies for Teaching Leadership Skills
Stories seed the idea of leadership in young kids’ minds, but they don’t provide practical skills that children can put to use. For that, they look to you, Mom and Dad. As a parent, here are three things you can do to teach your children the skills they need to lead.
- Encourage problem-solving and growth: Don’t let kids do the bare minimum to get by and turn to you for help every time they hit a speed bump. Instead, encourage kids to tackle problems head-on and always strive for growth.
- Challenge your child: Life is full of challenges. By letting your child face little challenges now, you teach them how to overcome big challenges later on.
- Set a good example: Children learn by example. In addition to teaching leadership skills, parents need to model good leadership for their children.
How Kids’ Activities Build Future Leaders
Finally, parents should seek opportunities for children to build leadership skills in a community of their peers. Whether it’s sports, scouts, 4-H, or theater, Inc. explains that finding an extracurricular activity that your child enjoys offers benefits like these:
- Perseverance: Kids who stick to an activity for at least two years develop the perseverance and self-discipline needed to succeed at whatever they set their minds to.
- Self-esteem: Committing to an extracurricular long-term also gives children a chance to discover their strengths and see how far they’ve come — which is great for building self-esteem.
- Success: Combined, these effects lead to better outcomes in adulthood for children who participate in extracurricular activities.
Teaching your child what it means to be a leader doesn’t just help them succeed in school and socially. It also lays the foundation for future success. Instead of waiting for leadership opportunities to present themselves to your child, look for ways that you can foster leadership skills in everyday life.