In an age of constant competition, it is very important to develop a strong, self-confident personality in a child. But it is not enough to cultivate in him a sense of responsibility, initiative and discipline - more is needed for a child to grow up as a leader.
By the leader it is correct to understand not only a person who possesses management skills, such as time planning, achieving goals and a willingness to take on difficult tasks - these skills alone do not make the owner of them a leader. For clarity: Steve Jobs, Henry Ford or Michael Jackson - each of them is considered a leader in their field. Maybe they were very disciplined, with a high level of responsibility, and maybe even did exercises every morning. But you must admit that this is not what made them their leaders. Or rather, not only that.
If a person knows what he wants to achieve from life, who he sees himself in it in the long term and has a plan for how to reach this goal, then with a high degree of probability this person will become the leader of his life. And he himself will already determine for himself what is more important to him: iron discipline or flexibility, undeniable determination or royal calm, the ability to delegate or his own productivity.
Another important quality of a leader is psychological maturity. Such a person, in contrast to an immature child, for example, is looking for a way out of any situation and must find it, because he is not limited by rules and some kind of system. It is important to carefully educate this quality in a child, but immediately explain that the “over the head” path should be used only in the most extreme cases or avoided at all. Because honesty and decency are not limiting factors.
A human leader is not always a leader. Often the leaders are line team players, since the main thing for them is the result, not self-affirmation. The leader may well clean the floors in the office or engage in any other “non-prestigious” job, if he clearly understands what this step is for and what step will be the next.
It turns out that absolutely any person can be a leader, regardless of profession. An artist who possesses certain qualities and infects his followers with his judgments or creative discoveries can easily be considered a leader, but not every director of a company can be called a leader.
On the one hand, from all of the above, it follows that it will not work to educate a leader, since the development of self-organization, oratorical abilities and iron will does not at all guarantee that in the future your child will be able to inspire others to follow him.
At the same time, the second conclusion follows: the child who seeks and knows how to realize his own desires can become a leader. And just this quality can be helped to develop it:
- ask the child what he wants, and, if possible, listen to his comments, take them into account when making decisions. Regular questions “What do you want” will help the child understand his desires, be able to formulate them.
- together with the child, realize that desires are aimed at creation, and not destruction. Adults easily understand that painting and tearing wallpaper is a bad idea, and glueing a torn book is a good idea. The child subconsciously also understands this and does not want to destroy by itself, but if this still happens often, then the parents should first of all pay attention to themselves. Most likely they are the ones who carry some kind of destructive ideas in their own behavior.
- talk to the child and hear his behavioral motives. It often happens that a child pursues a good goal, but does not know how to achieve it by doing the right thing. For example, he stole a beautiful toy from another child, but only to give it to his sister. In this case, it is important to explain to the child that his desire is very good, only the way of realization is not. Explain why and help find other ways to a solution, but do not blindly scold him for every offense. If you constantly punish a child for everything, then rather quickly he will suppress any desires in himself.
- praise the child for moving towards the fulfillment of their desires. If a child wants something, let him try, even if he does not succeed the first or the tenth time. Only in this way the principle "I see the goal - I see no obstacles" is laid down. And only in this way leadership qualities arise: when the child is not stopped in desires, but given the opportunity to move towards them. It is important here that the child moves towards the goal by trial and error - thanks to this, he will learn to see the connection between his actions, the results obtained and the consequences. Suppose a parent gave money for a new sweatshirt that the child really wanted. But he spent that money on entertainment. It is useless to ask again, he will now be given money only next month, so he will have to endure without a sweatshirt. So the child will not only learn to desire something, but will also take a responsible approach to the implementation of the plan or come up with other ways to achieve it (for example, by earning the necessary money).
