Article Link: http://exchangepress.com/article/leadership-parenting/5013014/
Every parent is a leader but not every parent exercises his or her authority with skill and effectiveness. Successful leadership can, however, be learned. There is a vast array of books on leadership that is aimed at those in professional and managerial positions. I believe that many of the principles of effective leadership described in this literature can be extended to parenting. In this article I want to suggest how three principles of leadership that Ronald A. Heifetz outlines in his book, Leadership Without Easy Answers (Heifetz, 1994, p. 163), can be translated into the leadership parenting of young children.Training and Problem Solving
The first principle of leadership appropriate to parenting is the distinction between those childrearing issues that require the parent to act as a trainer and those which demand that he or she be a problem solver. Whenever parents instruct children in skills that are clearly defined and whose success is easily determined, they are acting as traiers. Teaching children to feed themselves, to toilet themselves, to tie their shoes, to say "please" and "thank you" at the appropriate times, and to ride a tricycle are all activities in which parents function as trainers.
On the other hand, there are ...