Leadership skills are not inherited; they are learned through training. The first training ground we find ourselves in is home, the smallest unit of any society. When you develop the most important and good leadership skills and exemplary character at home, you indirectly develop society and the world at large.
Home is the earliest place to learn and develop the skills of leadership. Proverbs 22:5 says: “Train up a child in the way he should go; Even when he is old, he will not depart from it.”
The failure in leadership originated from the failure of the parents to take the time to develop leadership skills in their children. One of the core responsibilities of parents is to bring out the leadership capacities in their children. Parents can influence their children and bring out the leader in them.
Developing Leadership Skills at Home
These are the most important and good leadership skills that children can develop at home
Accountability
The art of being answerable to someone is called Accountability. As a leader, you must have someone to give the account of happenings in your life. First, we should be thankful and responsible to God for the life He gave us. And respectively, “each of us will give an account of ourselves to God” (Romans 14:12).
Accountability keeps one in check; there are many irrational decisions one may be prompted to take. Still, if you are answerable to someone, you will think twice before making such a decision.
The best place to learn such skills is at home. Parents must instill in their children this leadership skill to be worthy leaders. The parent must live by example in terms of being accountable with time, money, and relationship. If parents can influence their children in this way, it will help them avoid riotous living and grow with the ability to keep checking their actions and behaviors. Since they know, they will surely give an account of their actions.
Discipline
Discipline is the virtue of suppressing ambition or desire to achieve a goal. It is making a conscious decision to do or not to do a particular thing and simultaneously see to the enforcement of such a decision without wavering.
Discipline is a hallmark of leadership. A leader must be someone who can set a goal, pursue it with the help of God and achieve it. In life, many distractions detract one from his or her goal. It takes discipline to stay focused.
Naturally, most children tend to go their way, do whatever they feel, and cannot often stick to a goal. It is now the responsibility of the parents to train their children to be disciplined. They need to train them to be disciplined in terms of spending. Children often suffer from the see-and-buy syndrome. It requires that the parents strive to curb that attitude and train them to be disciplined in spending. Other discipline areas can be applied to eating habits, sleep, and many other areas.
The “Can Do” Attitude
Being positive about situations is what is common to all real leaders. A leader sees opportunity in every situation and believes he or she can go through it with the help of God. A natural leader must believe in God and be responsible to Him and to other people.
This skill needs to be learned thoroughly and mastered right at home. Have you met someone who suffers from an inferiority complex? A such person rarely believes they can do something positive on their own. Parents need to train their children to believe in themselves and never to look down on themselves.
As a parent, encourage your children never to use the word “I can’t.” This may require that parents devise means to boost the confidence of their children. And make them realize that no one is better than them. Instill in their notion that if someone can achieve a particular feat, they can achieve more.
I must say that parents must guide against negative words towards their children. Because words get to children quickly, and any negative comments can deflate their confidence levels.
Responsibility
Responsibility is the art of accepting duty and task. It is an art of responding to God-given ability. This is one of the most critical leadership skills.
Never seen a true leader who lacks responsibility skills. A call to leadership is a call to serve, which invariably means responsibility. And this responsibility, first of all, is to God and others. Can never be overemphasized the importance of learning this skill right from home.
One of the problems of leadership this age is suffering from is the problem of leaders who missed the class of responsibility from home. Parents have a lot to do to help their children develop this skill. “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6).
You can start early enough by giving a specific task to your little child. And demand that he or she accept the duty with the spirit of responsibility. Expose them to training at home, such as doing house chores, looking after their younger ones, and many other little things, consequently creating a sense of responsibility.
As a parent, you can influence your children with a can-do attitude by giving them responsibilities that can stretch them to the limit sometimes, but you must be there to guide and encourage them.
Diligence
Diligence is having the spirit of tenacity and excellence in all one does. This makes a leader strive for mastery and to be on top of his or her game. This skill can be learned right from home. Parents need to train their wards to run away from the enemy called average. And to make excellence their watchword. Of course, no excellence without diligence and no diligence without hard work. Children must be trained to shun any act of indolence. If any child grows up with a lifestyle of laziness of a nonchalant attitude, such a child cannot grow to be a true leader.
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