What can we learn from being a parent?

Earlier this year, my husband and I went to visit my daughter, Lauren, at her college. She recently turned 21 years old and wanted to bar hop with her parents, which we did. When I tell people that she wanted that, I’m often met with, “Wow, you must be a cool mom!” or “My kid would never want to do that with me.” That got me thinking. Why did Lauren want to go bar hopping with Jim and me? So, I asked her.

“You’re a lot of fun, mom. Plus, you know this is important to me, a right of passage being able to go out to bars now. I know you trust me to drink responsibly because you taught me that. I know you want me to spread my wings and have fun, so I wanted to share that with you.” Lauren said. WOW! My heart fluttered.

We want our children to rise, do we not?

So what?

Being a leader has some similarities to being a parent. Joy, trust, autonomy, growth, transparency, connection, non-judgment, care, confidence….. I’ve written posts and read posts on all of these here on LinkedIn regarding leadership. I’ve worked with leaders that have said, “I’m not their parent!” True. However, you are responsible to help co-create joy, trust, autonomy, growth, transparency, connection, non-judgment, care, confidence and more for your team members and within the work environment. I’ve had other leaders say, “I changed my tune when I became a parent,” meaning how do I want to be as a parent; what do I want to teach and instill in my child? When they became a parent, their beliefs, mindset, and behaviors changed and brought that into the workplace.

Perspective, self-awareness, intention. We tend to think about these, or hopefully so, as a parent. The same is true as a leader.

#leadershipcoach #executivepresence #growthmindset