My twin daughters turned 18 last week (I am still in denial), and I couldn’t help but reflect on my journey as a parent and all the leadership lessons it taught me (some I had to learn the hard way).
Here are, in no particular order, ten leadership lessons from my parenting journey (so far):
1. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐬𝐚𝐲; 𝐢𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬: my daughters never tire of reminding me of this in a variety of ways….” Why do we have to clean the dishes when YOU leave your coffee cups everywhere?” Sigh… It’s hard to argue with that.😂
2. 𝐋𝐢𝐭𝐭𝐥𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐝𝐨 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐜𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐀 𝐋𝐎𝐓 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐬: As we sat down to reminisce about “good ol’ days, I was shocked to learn how many little things I did became childhood memories for them.
3. 𝐓𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨 𝐫𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐨𝐫 𝐰𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧𝐬𝐰𝐞𝐫: and there are certainly many different parenting styles: I raised my girls alongside 3 of my closest friends, and we all have very different approaches to parenting, yet we all have fantastic kids who we are all very close to.
4. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐤𝐧𝐨𝐰 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐎𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐑𝐒, 𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐞𝐫: having twins, I saw them growing up side by side, going through similar stages and experience, and it made me see just how different they were, and when I acknowledge who they are as individuals, “speak their language”, and take the time to understand their needs, magic happens.
5. 𝐌𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐝𝐞𝐞𝐩, 𝐥𝐨𝐧𝐠-𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐛𝐮𝐢𝐥𝐭: even though we lived in the same house for 18 years, playing “table topics” helps me learn more about them as individuals every single time.
6. 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐊𝐄𝐘 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞: who knew that “clean room” and “as soon as possible” can be so unclear??😂
7. 𝐋𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐨𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭𝐟𝐮𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐭𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠: as a parent, we often feel the need to protect our kids and solve their problems FOR THEM, but the best solutions often came when I just listened to them, supported them, and asked questions that helped them find THEIR own way out.
8. 𝐅𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞: I quickly realized when I became a parent that it’s nothing like the books, and I will fail—a LOT.
9. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐚 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐮𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐣𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐞𝐲: just when I think I am finally doing it, the curveball comes, and I feel like I am failing. AGAIN.
10. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐲, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐢𝐭. 𝐈𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐲 𝐢𝐬.
What are some of the leadership lessons YOU learned from being a parent or from your parents?
#leadership #parenting #leadershipdevelopment
