ometimes you overlook what is right in front of you. When you were young, you thought “Oh what do they know”, when in real life they had real experiences which taught them life lessons that built their skills. Although it may seem strange that mothers can teach us something about leadership, you realize that they have so many different roles in life that it is hard not to pick up a few skills along the way.
- Giving is better than receiving – Upon speaking with full-time moms, a trend came about. We realized that a lot of them were helping people in their communities or by becoming involved at the kids’ schools. The why question, had a quick and direct answer which was that helping others made them feel wanted and needed. By giving their time and helping others, they were leading and showing their leadership skills and resulted in learning skills they didn’t even set out to learn.
- Timeout – As a child you probably saw this as punishment, but in hindsight it actually taught you to take some time and think about your actions and realise their consequences. You gained a new perspective. A leader should sometimes take a step back and reflect.
- Power comes from within – Good mothers try hard not to abuse their position as a parent. A mom is usually the parent you can turn to in your hour of need. Some houses are like bee nests, always full of people and so busy. This usually makes friends feel welcome and kids feel like they can be themselves. However, when mothers need to reprimand their kids, she should always handle them with respect and never embarrass them in front of friends and the child’s dignity remains intact. When you yourself become a mom you would know that this probably took all her inner strength.
- Never give up – Moms teach their children to never give up, which is exactly what a leader should do. Never stop, go on and achieve the goals you have set out to achieve. Under this heading, we can also put “don’t be afraid to take calculated risks.” Moms have intuition and they teach their kids to follow their own instincts.
- Sibling fights – Most children have brothers and sisters. Remember when your mom used to shout out, “just stop fighting”? Mothers know that by fighting no situation will be resolved. Listening and good communication with a lot of compromises fairly distributed amongst the parties involved, taught you to negotiate, to resolve problems, to communicate and above all to make peace.
- True importance – “Leaders care about people more than objects” according to Skip Prichard. This sums up the core of being a mom, don’t you agree? Mothers will sacrifice anything for their children, friends, family and the people they love. Mothers teach us that people and their emotions are important and are not fixed on materialistic things. They care for others first and focus their energy on the upliftment of others, an important leadership trait. Leaders should remember that you are only as strong as the people you surround yourself with.
- Manners – Respect and manners are some things mothers should teach their children from an early age. This builds your leadership skills and teaches you that you can learn a lot from various types of people. People relate better to a leader who doesn’t force respect but earns it by having good manners, being trustworthy and treating the people the way he/she wishes to be treated.
Sometimes mothers, especially young mothers, underestimate their influence to shape their children. When you talk to well-known leaders, often their mom played a big role on their journey to reach their goals and to become the great leaders they are today.