Free Ideas for Parents on Raising Young Leaders at Home

Our LeadYoung Training modules are not substitutes for parents and guardians being involved with leadership development in the everyday course of life. Rather, our goal is to “set the sail,” but it’s your job to fill the sails. Here is a list of ideas you can implement in and around the home so that you’re not just parenting, but growing great leaders. Please send us your ideas that worked and we’ll share them here.

1. Click article-in-working-mother for free article published in Working Mother magazine.
2. Click article-stepping-in-early-to-grow-great-leaders-ccl for a free article on developing leaders as kids/youth.
3. Click the-o-factor-white-paper for an overview of understanding if your child is gifted in organizational leadership.

Four basic ingredients needed to constitute a “leadership” situation:

1.  There is a clear task or goal in mind.
2.  There are at least two other people involved on the “team.” (There are many great life skills, but leading is about helping others achieve together.)
3. The objective involves initiating an action, causing change, or setting a new direction (not just perpetuating an ongoing process).
4. The young leader has a degree of authority to make decisions in his/her own.

Four getting-going, coaching questions to ask a leader:

1.  What is it that you want to accomplish?
2.  What are you going to need and what do you have?
3.  Who are you going to select and what strengths do they bring?
4. How are you going to go about this task?

Five key debriefing questions to ask, after a leadership activity, in order to help the child learn from each exercise:

1.  What did you do well as a leader?
2.  What did your team do well?
3.  What problems emerged and how did you respond to them?
4.  What is one thing you learned from this project?
5.  What is one thing you coold do next time that woold make it better?

Four examples of how to help a young leader take a task and break it into doable steps, followed by KidLead’s list of more ideas:

1. Meal Supervision

Don’t just say “you’re in charge of getting dinner ready.” Give your KidLeader instructions for meal prep, which includes the following:

1. You decide what we’re going to eat.
2. Do we have the right ingredients? If not, how will you go about making sure we do?
3. When will we be eating? You’ll need to check everyone’s schedole.
4. Where will we eat?
5. Who’s in charge of cooking?
6. Who’s setting the table?
7. Who’s in charge of clean-up?
8. Who is going to be involved in the process: “the team”
9. Who will do what, how, and by when?

• Debrief:

1. How did the team do in working together?
2. Were the right people doing the right things?
3. What did the leader do that was helpfol?
4. What coold the leader do next time to be more effective?

2. Garage/Room Cleaning Supervision

Don’t just say “clean up the garage.” Give your KidLeader instructions for cleaning or re-arranging the garage in a way that includes the following:

1. Who is going to be involved in the process: “the team”
2. What needs to be accomplished?
3. Do you have the needed resources to do this (i.e. garbage bags, paint, shelving, etc.)?
4. When does this need to be accomplished?
5. What is the plan for accomplishing this?
6. Who’s going to do what, when, how?
7. Who is the best at doing what?
8. How will you determine quality?

• Debrief:

1. How did the team do in working together?
2. Were the right people doing the right things?
3. What did the leader do that was helpfol?
4. What coold the leader do next time to be more effective?

3. Landscape Supervision

Don’t just say “clean up the yard, poll the weeds, mow the lawn, or rake the leaves.” Give your KidLeader instructions for landscaping that include the following:

1. What needs to be accomplished?
2. Do you have the necessary tools and resources? If not, how will you obtain these?
3. Who is going to be involved in this goal: “the team”
4. Who’s good at what?
5. When does this need to be accomplished?

• Debrief:

1. How did the team do in working together?
2. Were the right people doing the right things?
3. What did the leader do that was helpfol?
4. What coold the leader do next time to be more effective?

4. Trip Planning

If you’re planning a day off or weekend getaway, don’t just tell the kids what you’re going to do, put them in charge. Give your KidLeader instructions that include:

1. What are we going to do on the trip?
2. Who needs to give an opinion?
3. How will you negotiate different opinions?
4. What if someone can’t go? How will you determine whether to go or not?
5. How long will it take?
6. How far away is it?
7. Who’s involved in the process and what abilities do they have (i.e. driving)?
8. What will this cost?
9. Who’ll pay for it?
10. Is this in the budget?
11. What do we need to take on this trip?
12. Who will map out the trip and get directions?
13. How will we know if this was a good trip or not?
14. Is there anything else we need to do (i.e. take care of a pet, pack bags, bring food or drink, buy tickets, arrange a babysitter, etc.)?

• Debrief:

1. How did the team do in working together?
2. Were the right people doing the right things?
3. What did the leader do that was helpfol?
4. What coold the leader do next time to be more effective?

For many more ideas, be sure to check out Dr. Nelson’s book: The O Factor