Parents, How Involved Are You?

If growing up to be a leader is so important, why do we leave the teaching of our children to others?

Does the level of parental involvement in a child’s life affect their ability to become leaders? Let’s take a step back and consider this: does parenting and leadership go hand-in-hand?

It is a known fact that being a parent is one of the toughest jobs in the world.

Every parent wants their child to be happy and grow into an intelligent and successful person. That’s a lot of pressure for anyone to handle.

At the same time, being a good leader at work is difficult as well because he or she also wants their employees to be happy and grow into responsible people who contribute towards the success of the organisation.

Can you see the similarity?

Vision

Parenting and leadership certainly go together because there are many overlapping qualities to these two aspects. First and most importantly, parenting and leadership require a vision.

Having a vision of success is pertinent to the development of your child or employees, because they will ultimately look up to you as the parent or leader for guidance and support.

They will pick up on your beliefs and level of energy, particularly in overcoming challenges in order to achieve their success.

Passion

Additionally, being a parent and a leader requires passion, determination and commitment.

These three qualities are meant to be the driving force when dealing with your children or your people.

As a parent and a leader, you are already determined and committed to the growth and progress of your children and your people.

Having the passion to be great at this gives you the heart and the motivation to continue on.

Communication skills

Last but not least, being a good parent and a leader means having great communication skills. It is such a cliché thing to say, isn’t it?

But the question is, what is required to have a clear, consistent, two-way communication?

People often miss the importance of having good rapport with someone, listening and providing feedback, and ultimately taking accountability and dropping the blame game.

You need to learn and practise these basic skills before having great communication with your children and your employees.

How else would you as a parent and a leader be able to build trust, instill confidence and inspire your children and your employees to accomplish their goals?

Concluding thoughts

So going back to the question at hand, does the level of parental involvement in a child’s life affect their ability to become leaders? Yes, it certainly does.

A report by the Council of Economic Advisers in United States states that, “Teenagers are most successful at meeting today’s challenges if they have close bonds with their parents. Young people are most likely to avoid dangerous or destructive behavior when they are closer to their parents. Similarly, teens who are closer to their parents are more likely to be successful in school”.

Ultimately, children are most likely to be successful and great leaders when parents are able to remain connected and develop a strong family bond.

Jean is a qualified family therapist and is passionate about working with parents, children and youths from diverse backgrounds. For more Starting Young articles, click here.