Developing leadership skills at home
No one is born a leader, some experts believe. It is something that people of worthy character grow to become through their experiences.
And as for children, they are never too young to learn the foundation of what leadership means.
Leadership skills allow children to have control of their lives and the ability to make things happen.
They instill confidence, and help children solve problems creatively, work in a team, and work collaboratively with others. Leadership gives children many opportunities to develop responsibility.
Caroline Gikunda, mother to Preston Nguyo who is 13 years old, says nurturing leadership skills in your child/children starts by involving them in all the major decision-making processes in your family or business.
“Other than giving them a sense of belonging, leadership skills also come with a tinge of responsibility.
A culture of responsibility evolves into leadership with time,” says Gikunda who is an entreprenuer.
Nurturing a young leader
Gikunda says she started inculcating leadership skills in her son at an early age. She offers: “I gave him an opportunity to choose the tiles and colours for his room when he was nine years old.
We went to a showroom and he chose whatever he found pleasing to his eyes. It’s not necessarily what I would have gone for, but sometimes these are the sacrifices one makes as a parent for the bigger picture in future.
She adds: “I would tag him along to all my business meetings. There is this particular day we attended a certain workshop and when it came time for introduction, I introduced myself as the director, Alpha Charlie. He was seated next to me and when his turn came, he introduced himself as the co-director Alpha Charlie!
The room was filled with laughter and the speaker of the day focused on him.
He was tasked with participation in the discussion as a co-director and being the only child in the meeting, he had to maintain the eloquence and mannerisms fit for his title.”
According to Gikunda, her son has since tried to maintain the title and when he goes off grid, she is quick to remind him that is not how co-directors behave. This has worked well to shape up his leadership skills and be responsible.
Gikunda adds that it is easier for someone who has been prepared from a tender age to take up leadership roles in different fields.
She says: “Leadership is challenging because when a crisis is at hand, the norm is to look upon the leader to come up with a solution to address the problem.
It becomes easier for a person who has seen challenges being solved to handle the matter and offer solutions.
In my absence, I am certain that my son even at his age would manage quite a number of things responsibly. He has been handling some small stuff at work and he executes with precision.
I sometimes let him supervise small casual works. He should ensure that if it is cleaning, it has been done to his standards before he dispatches payments.
He prepares a to-do-list, ticks what has been done and sets reminders for what hasn’t been done. He attends all the staff meetings and gives his speech, which has to resonate with the day’s agenda.”
For Caroline, the secret in nurturing good leadership skills in your children is to incorporate them in what you do as early as possible.
“Let them take interest in it. You grow their interest by showing them that their opinion matters and makes all the difference.
They learn that it doesn’t matter how old they are, but they can still make an impact through positive change,” she says.
Walking the talk
Ruth Vusaka, a mother of three children aged eight years, four years and eight months says as a parent, she feels it is important for her children to possess leadership skills since it puts them in authority.
“Having some leadership skills may open up certain opportunities for them that they may otherwise not get. It also gives them a chance to serve humanity,” she says.
Though her children are still young, she believes they already have a sense of responsibility in them.
“As a mother, I have so much more to teach them, which can only happen with time and as life situations come,” she adds.
Vusaka says she inculcates leadership skills in her children by talking and walking the talk. She offers: “Being their primary caregiver, I believe they see and learn a lot from me.
It is said that children do what they see and not what they are told. Whenever I walk them to school, I pray for them and declare them leaders, not followers in their generation; lenders and not borrowers.
My son was appointed a prefect in his class and I explained to him that it means he is a leader and it’s important for him to be well-behaved and lead by example.”
Fred Kiiru, a counselling psychologist, author and life coach says when children grow up without being guided, they live their lives like an aeroplane flying on air without radar (direction).
It is the root that makes a child grow up respecting authority and leading by example when duty calls.
“Leadership is all about leading by example. It is about being who you are when no one is watching you,” says Kiiru.
He advises parents to be there for their children in their passage of life— their birthday parties, rite of passage, visiting them in school on official visiting days and holding conversations that are full of life lessons as it will be etched in their minds and hearts for life.
