Tag: raising

Kareem Elsirafy Knows Developing Leadership Skills Should Begin Early

It is perfectly natural to always want the very best for our children, and it is certainly not uncommon for parents to go to great lengths to ensure that their kids have every advantage as they grow up. Cooperation is one of the most common skills parents focus on teaching kids at a very early age, but there should be equal attention paid to developing leadership skills as well. Of course, there is a very fine line between leading and dictating, so a tailored approach to teaching leadership is often most ideal.

“During the early stages of development, play is the best way to promote cooperative behavior while providing the opportunity to cultivate leadership skills,” said Arturo Alvarez Demalde. “Just like in the military, leaders can be developed through a number of cooperative activities in which the most vocal and supportive participants are able to get the most out of those around them.”

The belief in this concept has been reinforced by Kareem Elsirafy, who noted that the games children play are great for developing leadership skills. While some children will be naturally suited for leadership, other children can benefit from positive reinforcement from their parents. After a youth sporting event, for example, a parent may explain to their child how to be supportive of teammates who made a mistake or how to set a good example during athletic competition. These behaviors can even be modeled or practiced at home, with parents providing examples of the kinds of communication strategies used by those in leadership positions.

The Fragile Dreams of Children

Children are incredible with their dreams and imaginations. Did you know that the most powerful question in the world is asked daily by a 3 year old? That question is, “Why?” This is the question that truly provokes answer and searches for knowledge and reasoning. Children have dreams of doing big things and becoming someone important in life. We have all heard children say something like, “When I grow up, I’m going to be a firefighter,” or, “When I grow up, I want to be an astronaut at NASA!”  My child told me they wanted to be in charge of their own construction business like Ralph Slaske of Slaske Builders. Never once have we heard a child say, “When I’m all grown up, I want to work at a bank.”

What happens to our dreams as children? Where do they go? Where does the passion to reach for the sky and do the unbelievable go? For many of us, it could be our parents to blame for hitting us over the head over and over with their own realities. When someone doesn’t believe in themselves and fail to reach their dreams and potential, they have the tendency to bring others down with them and say things such as, “Don’t be silly. What makes you think you can do that?”

As parents, we want to see them succeed, but we also don’t want to teach them reality, that is, reality as WE believe it to be. Why can’t your child be an astronaut? It’s been done before and is still being done. Why can’t your child run their own business? Why can’t your child become the best doctor in the universe? We have to be careful not to crush that little glimmer of hope, but we do anyway and have the audacity to scold them when they aren’t living up to our expectations and then belittle them when their expectations of themselves is beyond those for ourselves and dreams are bigger than our dreams. Parents, we need to make up our mind what we want for our children.

Peter Lik Would Agree—Don’t Touch!

One of the many things I try to teach my children is do not touch what does not belong to you. I remember being taught this lesson and it has gotten me out of trouble many times when I was tempted to touch something. My mother was an old school woman and would carry a ruler in her purse just for that reason. Any time I got the urge to reach out and touch something in a store, my mother was quick to whip out the ruler and tag my fingers with it. Ouch!

In the same respect, I do my best to make sure my children know not to touch what isn’t theirs. This lesson in discipline has been shown to demotivate stealing in various young adults as well as preventing accidents such as dropping and breaking things. Could you imagine how upset I’d be if one of them had the nerve to touch any camera or equipment that belongs to a photographer like Peter Lik?