At home we often play this game called Compatability. It's a great game, both my wife and I use to help explore and discuss a range of topics with our kids.
Each player has a set of cards which contain a word or picture. At the start of each round we're given a theme and you then need to choose a certain number of cards which 'reflect' the chosen theme. When everyone's ready, you reveal your cards one by one and for every card you have chosen which is the same as your partner you receive points.
A really simple game, however as you can imagine one which provides my wife and I with great insights into how our kids see the world!
So on this particular day the topic was Leadership. My wife and I giggled with delight chosing our cards, excited to see what our kids would come up with. I've gotta say I was blown away by what we saw.
Our 10 year old chose her cards and laid them out, excited to reveal and explain her cards she went first. There I sat thinking this 'Will be a great opportunity for me to share my experience and wisdom, and teach my daughter some important life lessons on leadership.'
OHHH how smug and wrong was I?
They say when the student is ready the teacher will come...well my teacher arrived alright and it was in the form of my 10 Year Old!
So here goes!
My jaw hit the ground. "So why did you choose 'Help'?"
"A leaders main job is to help other people. Their job is not for themselves. They should be there to help everyone else and make sure they're okay."
My wife and I look at each other and smile.
"What's important about Trust?" I ask.
"Well if you're a leader people have to be able to trust you and you need to be able to trust the people you're leading."
"Ummm. Okay."
"And a Lion?" I ask.
"Well a Lion is strong and courageous. When you're the leader you need to lead the whole pack and sometimes that means having to do things which you're scared of, but you know you have to do anyway."
By this stage my wife and I were laughing with delight! Wow...Talk about a Master Class in Leadership!
Really simple, however as leaders we can often get caught up in our own ego, fears, desires and to do lists it's easy to forget the simple things required of us to make a real difference.
So what can we take away from this Leadership Master Class by a 10 Year Old?
It's pretty simple really. As a leader SERVE YOUR TEAM. They don't work for you. YOU work for them. BUILD TRUST. Have your team's back. Do what you say you're going to do and be true to your word. TRUST YOUR TEAM. Believe in your staff and empower them to be the best they can. Step away, submit and allow them to be in charge. BE COURAGEOUS. Stand strong - deal and tackle the tough issues head on!
It's amazing how these Leadership Lessons from a 10 Year Old match into Funergizers 4 Key Principles of Engagement. If you're looking to find some easy and effective resources to help you create a positive team culture check out Funergizers Employee Engagement Programs.
Good luck team and enjoy!
Here's Some More Guiding Questions to Help You Out.
Mike Symonds specializes in working with Business Leaders to Energize Staff, Connect Teams and Get Results. Mike is available for Interactive Keynote Presentations, Conference MCing and Workshop Facilitation. Mike is also the creator of Funergizers Employee Engagement Model - 4 simple principles Leaders can use to engage their teams easily and effectively.
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