3 Leadership Principles Every Parent Needs to Know

Sep 6

By Amanda Da Silva, B.Hkin, B.Ed, and M.Ed

5-minute read

When you focus on helping your kids develop a growth mindset, they are able to take on the challenges of a constantly evolving world.

These 3 leadership principles can be used to help your children develop a growth mindset.

The constant state of flux in the world is challenging to navigate. This goes for both parents and children alike.

With the new school year ahead, adjusting to an unfamiliar environment can be a daunting task. With that said, preparing your children to tackle this new situation so they can grow and flourish is a must!

The best way to do that is by embedding a continuous growth mindset and a strong sense of leadership.

Read along to explore the 3 leadership principles every parent needs to know and use.

Watch the Video for Growth Mindset Tips

Leadership Principle #1: Motivation, Resilience, and Persistence

One of the major distinctions between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset is being persistent with your learning.

This means not allowing failure to stop your children from developing and improving their knowledge.

It’s important for kids to recognize that setbacks can be a way to move forward rather than remain stuck. The best way to do that is to lead by example. Your children need to see for themselves that being persistent and resilient can be incredibly rewarding.

For instance, when trying something new, narrate your thoughts to show how motivation and hard work can effectively solve problems. This not only conveys the principle that mistakes contribute to growth but it also eliminates that paralyzing fear of failure. This is a great way to prepare your children for the upcoming school year.

Considering how different of an environment it will be due to the COVID-19 pandemic, your leadership as a parent is of paramount importance right now. You will assist in creating their mindset and environment to help them make good decisions and devise their own coping mechanisms dependent upon how you choose to ‘school’ your children at the start of the school year.

Equipped with motivation, resilience, and persistence, your kids will find it easier to adjust to this unfamiliar and ever-changing landscape!

Improving your leadership skills can help you at home and at work. There’s always a multitude of benefits that comes with improving yourself.

Leadership Principle #2: Creativity, Imagination, and Innovation

Creativity and innovation are some of the best tools a leader can have in their arsenal.

These tools allow children to see things from a different perspective. It also gets them to experiment with different ways to solve a given problem.

Sir Ken Robinson, author of Finding Your Element states, “With people, there’s always something new. The reason is that human beings are naturally creative. This is true of us as a species and of our individual lives. You create your own life by how you see the world and your place in it; by the opportunities you take and the ones you refuse; by the possibilities you see and the choices you make. As a human being, you have many choices.”

Creativity, Imagination, and Innovation are ideal instruments to incite flexibility and adaptability, particularly when we're faced with constant flux and change. Encouraging the use of imagination and innovation in daily ventures is a tremendous catalyst for enhancing a child’s growth mindset.

This is one of the most fundamental leadership principles for all parents.

No matter how tempted you are to solve a problem for your kids or offer them direct solutions, don’t!

If they’re stuck, you can help them brainstorm or give them a gentle push in the right direction. I will discuss in this week’s video an example I recently used to help my own kids solve a problem of their own!

However, refrain from giving your input on how you’d solve that issue.

You might be positively surprised at what resources they use or methods they come up with to complete their work!

Leadership Principle #3: Inspiration, Encouragement, and Mentoring

Another great way to instill a sense of leadership in your children is through continuous encouragement and mentoring.

You can inspire them to achieve more than what they think is possible by setting stimulating yet realistic goals. This will not only allow them to reframe problems but also start them thinking for themselves.

If you encourage your kids to start paying more attention to their problem-solving skills, they also learn to take more responsibility for the outcomes. For example, during the process of doing homework (believe me, this is a struggle in our household too!), you can shift your children's focus to how they chose to proceed.

In addition, you can mentor your kids, assisting them in developing pertinent strategies to tackle overwhelming challenges. This will help them learn how to handle bigger tasks by breaking them into smaller ones.

It will build their awareness, allowing them to take more leadership roles in their day-to-day life.

The Takeaway

With the current situation in the world, there’s so much uncertainty building up and creeping into our lives.

The best way to teach your children to adjust to the unpredictability is to help them develop a growth mindset. So, whenever they’re unsure of their abilities to overcome challenges, use the leadership principles above and remind them to keep trying.

Wishing you all the best of luck at the start of the new school year!