Improve Our Leadership: What We Can Learn from Parenting

Jonena Relth, TBD Consulting

If you want your children to become model citizens, focus on developing their sharing skills.

If you want your company to excel, focus on developing your leaders' collaboration skills.

Being a bottom-line kinda gal, I'm always interested in studies that focus on the "Why" behind the best managed companies. It is common knowledge that exemplary leadership is vital to a company's bottom line.  And it's no coincidence that over a 10-year period, the top 20 US companies that focused on leadership development, as ranked by Hay Group, outperformed the S&P 500 at twice the rate as other companies. Learn about the 2011 study.  

Here are some thoughts that have been rolling around in my head this past holiday weekend as I babysat my 3-year-old granddaughter. She's taught me that being a successful Parent, Grandparent and Corporate Leader have a lot of similarities - paramount of which experience is the best teacher!

My list, of course, only touches a minimum of parenting and leadership behaviors that, when practiced, will help grow positive citizens and exemplary leaders. Hopefully they should get our thinking caps "churning." 

Parenting			Leadership
Toddler	Nurture Model sharing behavior Instruct sharing behavior Allow child to make choices Reward positive sharing		Prospective Leader	Mentor & Coach Require training Model decision making that includes collaboration and creativity Encourage collaboration and creativity
School Age	Nurture Model sharing Encourage & guide  friendship building Encourage child to make choices Guide decisions Reward positive  friendship building		Supervisor	Mentor & Coach Require training Model decision making that includes collaboration and creativity Encourage and reward  decision making that includes collaboration and creativity
Adolescent	Model sharing behavior Reward positive  friendship building Encourage child to make choices Encourage decision making Encourage Reward sharing		New Leader	Mentor & Coach Require training Model decision making that includes collaboration and creativity Encourage and reward  decision making that includes collaboration and creativity
Young Adult	Mentor Share in successes and  failures		Mid-level Leader	Mentor & Coach Require training Reward decision making that includes collaboration and creativity
Adult	Step back and only Mentor if requested Share in successes and failures if requested		Sr. Leader	Reward leaders who Mentor, Coach and Train other leaders in  decision making that includes collaboration and creativity Encourage continuous learning Share in successes and failures if requested

A household runs smoother when everyone is collaborating, and the same goes for business.  Collaboration is the glue that keeps us working towards the same goals.  Creativity is the icing on the cake that acts like a beacon calling out to our customers that we can help them solve their issues.  If we help each other, whether it is family, friends, colleagues or customers, we are making the US a better place to live and work.

TBD Consulting has a 20-year, proven track record for ensuring employee performance improvement which translates to employee performance success. Whether you need help developing an in-house training organization or simply need "extra hands" to meet your deadlines or ROI goals, please contact Jonena. She and her qualified staff are here to assist you with your organizational development, coaching and training initiatives.

Corporate Office 602-263-1961. Email Jonena today!

 

 

Comments

[Kel Mohror]

“Failure is success if we learn from it”-
Malcolm S. Forbes and “Success is never final; failure is never fatal”- Author unknown are wisdom that go hand-in-hand with decision-making.

We all- regardless of age- should learn how to critique our failures, form constructive criticisms, and, as Walt Disney exhorted, "Keep moving forward!"

[Jonena Relth]

Thanks Kel, Malcom and Walt are/were most certainly spot on!