Isaiah 11:6
As I was growing up, I remember hearing the saying “before you try cleaning up the world, you better look at your own back door”. This was an era of unsettled times. The Vietnam War was in full swing with the draft and draft dodgers, the drug culture, and the never-ending search for self. Perhaps I was a bit too young to get caught up in that culture, but I was certainly old enough to be affected by it.
Is today so different? Now I have grandchildren who watch the real-life death and destruction of war on TV. Drugs have become easier to get – and more deadly. And our kids are still trying to figure out who they are and where they fit in.
Looking to leaders for examples of leadership is sorely lacking as country fights against country, party fights against party, and parent fights against parent. Too often our young people are put in leadership roles, never having had an appropriate example of leadership themselves.
In fact, the first leadership role our youth are given is often that of self-leadership, a role they must take on at increasingly younger ages with little to no training.
While on the one hand “people who have the self-awareness of intentional, strong identity can lead themselves to overcome obstacles in their own lives so that they can lead others…toward success” (Stedman,2013), more and more often we expect people who have no clue who they are or what they stand for to take charge of entire companies, states, and even nations. In cases like these they are left to the opinions of whomever has the best lines, the most money, or the greatest popularity to make their decisions.
YOU Life Skills and Leadership understands the need to create leaders from the cradle. Every time we provide our children with the opportunity to choose, we teach self-leadership.
Recently, my 7-year-old granddaughter started to act up as 7-year-old girls often do. She was quite accustomed to getting her way with her mother, but not so at grandma’s house. I calmly told her that she could take her attitude into her bedroom and play as long as she liked. When she was ready to come out alone, she could leave her attitude in her bedroom and come spend time with the family. She stomped her little foot, turned around, and went to her room. When she came out, she was alone. Rather than being controlled, she had made a choice. That’s the difference between self-control and self-leadership.
On Sunday mornings I like to sleep in before getting ready for 11:00 church services. When the grandchildren are visiting for the weekend, they aren’t much into sleeping in, and often wake up as early as 7:00. Because they have been given options of things they can do from 7:00 to 9:00, and because they have learned self- leadership, I know I can sleep until 9:00 without worry. In fact, on several occasions, I have awakened to scripture-based cartoons on the television “because it’s Sunday”.
If children are taught to lead themselves, it will be easier for them to make better choices as they become teenagers and leaders in their high schools and among their peers. They will build on these leadership skills to become the leaders we need in our families, our government, and our world.