Have you ever wondered that good leadership qualities can be learned from kids?  Sometimes in our life we forgot that we already possessed the skills of a leader even as a child.

A day after Christmas this year, our kids performed their Piano Recital at Al Manshar Rotana Hotel at Fahaheel, Kuwait.  The room was filled with promising kids who wants to show their talents in singing, playing the drums and piano.  Among them are our kids who are very excited to show the fruits of their piano practices.  As I observed my children on their preparation and during their piano recital, vital qualities of a leader can be learned.  I will share with you on this article some of essential qualities a leader should have.

1. Leaders never stop learning.  Kids are best attributed by their enthusiasm to learn new things.  I don’t know why this change as we grow older.  Maybe because of other things that we do that caught our time and commitments like work, family, etc.  During the preparation for the piano recital, my kids are being coached by Teacher Eva, one of the passionate music teachers in Kuwait.

“Knowledge is a never ending quest.”

I saw their eagerness to learn this new skill that even without their piano coach, they look for new piano materials in Youtube and apply what they learn from their lessons.  My son Jaizen even asked me to enroll for drumming lessons after seeing other kids doing their best at the stage.  Knowledge is a never ending quest.  As a good leader, this quality is essential so that you can lead your people properly.  Personal empowerment will build and move your team to the direction you agreed to go.

2. Leaders have the belief and passion on what they do.  You can be successful on something as long as you believe on what you do together with the passion to apply it.  I saw the belief in my children’s eyes that they can face their fear of playing the piano in front of a crowd.  As a homeschooler, it is a challenge for them since they are not always exposed outside.  But because they have the passion and enjoyed playing piano, they manage to conquer their giant to play in front of other people.  After the recital, my children wanted to play more piano musical pieces.

“As a good leader, the least favor you can do to yourself is to believe on what you do.”

This is an indicator that they enjoy what they are doing which is significant in leading people.  Nobody will follow you if within yourself you don’t enjoy what you do.  As a good leader, the least favor you can do to yourself is to believe on what you do.  When you believe and you have a sense of direction, people around you will follow you.  To complete the picture, you need to be relentless in doing the things that will get the job done to reach your goals.

 

3. Leaders know how to empower others.  I saw my kids checking with each other on how well they are prepared for the recital.  My elder son Jade, always keep on checking his younger brother Jaizen if the latter is doing his piano practice for the piece he will be playing in the recital.  He even teach his brother after Teacher Eva left our home.

“I believe that a leader is not a leader unless he has built a leader.”

Jade keeps on reminding Jaizen the importance of practice.  He empowered Jaizen to love playing piano.  He does not care if his brother will be better than him soon.  As a good leader, empowering others will move your team to greater heights.  Teaching and guiding them without any reservations will make the team better.  Your team should duplicate you and I think that’s the best legacy you can leave behind.  I believe that a leader is not a leader unless he has built a leader.

4.  Leaders equip others.  During the preparation process for the recital, I saw the progress of my children from zero knowledge of playing piano to someone who can conquer their fears of playing in front of people.  This is mainly because Teacher Ryan in the Philippines and Teacher Eva in Kuwait equip our kids the right lessons and know how.  As parents, we provided the necessary things for them to prepare and be successful.  For my children, Jade provided additional information to Jaizen for him to appreciate playing piano more.  As a good leader, it is imperative to equip the people you lead for them to establish their momentum and let them flourish and progress with it.  The right information and know how should be laid down on the table and let your team do the best they can to get the goals done.

5. Leaders have confidence.  At the end of it, I saw the confidence and conviction from my kids while they performed their best during their piano recital.  All their hard work in the preparation and piano sessions paid off.  I learned that practice build confidence.  As a good leader, preparation will really make a difference on your performance on any goals you want to achieve.  As a leader, educate yourself related to the tasks you want to accomplish so that will gain confidence in executing it.  Your team will notice that and will follow you.  Nobody wants to follow a gullible leader.

There are other qualities that make a good leader.  If you already possess any one of these, improve it.  On the other hand, look for ways to acquire the necessary skills to gain other qualities for a good leader should have.  Don’t look for other places yet to gain this, you might find them right in front of you just running around your house and playing with their Lego toys.

Do you know other qualities a good leader should have?  Please share and meet us in the comments.