“out of the mouths of babes”

I strongly believe we can learn leadership lessons from the most unlikely places. One of these sources is our children. Not only do they learn from us, but we can also learn from them. If we listen closely, we can gain valuable insights into the why and how of leading others. This is your opportunity to share those simple but brilliant words with other mommy leaders. Send in leadership-related quotes, insights, or short anecdotes from your children to be posted on this page.

Leadership Lessons from My Children – Jun. 28, 2010

We all have our own concepts of what great leadership is and how to recognize it. But what is particularly interesting is what children have to say about leaders and leadership. Children get down to the very essence of an issue and leave out all of the fluff which is so refreshing to me.

I had an enlightening conversation with my children (ages 9 and 4) the other day.  It started with my daughter’s conversation about not being chosen as the line leader in her class that day.  I asked her if she thought she should be the line leader and my son chimed in with his reasons why he was a good leader. I asked him what evidence he had that he was a good leader. His response?  ”Yesterday, I put my pencil behind my ear, and three other people did the same thing.”  Because of the serious expression on his face, I struggled to hold back the chuckle that was ready to come out.

Then I thought about what he’d said and was impressed that my son recognized leadership is more than being named as the leader as in my daughter’s class. You are a leader based on the leadership behaviors you display and the leadership skills you use to help your team or organization achieve the collective objective.  Remember that leadership is more about influence than titles. Don’t worry about your title, just act like the leader you are!

I did turn back to my daughter to finish my conversation with her, but what I learned from her that day will be the subject of a future post.