How to Build Leadership Skills in a Strong-Willed Child
Self-directed, persistent, passionate -- the very characteristics that make your strong-willed child a challenge to parent serve her well in leadership roles. The way you handle your child from a young age affects the development of her natural leadership skills. Your role also involves helping her develop the skills she may lack that will benefit her as a student leader. Instead of trying to tame your natural leader, help her shape those talents to become a positive force with her peers.
Instructions
Set boundaries for your strong-willed child. He may push the limits due to his nature, but the boundaries give him a parameter for acceptable behavior. Leaders benefit from ambition and creative thinking, but they also need to stay under control. The behavior boundaries help develop that skill. Limit power struggles with your child. While tempting to challenge her when she acts stubborn, power struggles create a negative tone. A strong-willed child won't give up easily in a power struggle. This battle of wills doesn't teach your child how to become a leader. Learn to read your child and manage her behavior without giving ultimatums. Allow your natural leader to make decisions on his own. Decision-making is a key skill of a leader. Present him with options you can accept, allowing him the final say. Help him work through the consequences of rash decisions. A child who is given options instead of being forced into compliance is often more cooperative, according to Aha! Parenting. Encourage your child's natural curiosities and talents. Allowing him to explore problems or dig deeper into a topic reinforces his desire to pursue his interests. Many of those talents may play into his leadership. For example, if your child enjoys performing science experiments, he might become an expert in science class, chair the science club or join a team for academic competitions due to his science knowledge. A child who practices soccer might eventually become a team captain. Support your child's participation in activities that contribute to leadership skills, such as sports teams, summer camps and school groups. In these situations, she develops her skills and gets a chance to experiment with leadership roles. Give your child control over tasks at home. Let him plan activities or meals for the family. Assign him to caring for the family pet. He'll likely take the job seriously and gain confidence from the chance to be a leader within the family. Develop your child's communication skills. Since she tends to defend her own position, she may need help seeing situations from different points of view. Talk her through how other people might feel in a particular situation. You might say "I know you were trying to show your friend how to build a sandcastle, but she might have felt like you were taking over and not letting her have a turn." Help your child develop vocabulary to express how she feels so she improves her communication. Have her practice listening to others. Practice goal-setting and problem-solving. When something frustrates your strong-willed child, help him brainstorm solutions. For example, if he is frustrated that he can't hit a baseball, suggest that he break down the task into smaller skills he can practice. Help him set goals that revolve around practicing those skills.
