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5 Steps To Helping Your Child Become A Good Leader

Parents

By Adam H. Naylor, EdD, CC-AASP

Young boy at bat during baseball game.Leadership is a hot topic both in and out of sport. The value of a leader that can inspire, communicate effectively, and care selflessly is immeasurable.

But it is actually quite challenging for a youth athlete to be an effective leader. Many will have the opportunity to wear the captain’s “C,” yet few will successfully differentiate themselves through their words and actions from their teammates they have been asked to lead.

However, the following five ideas can help any sport parent nurture their young athletes toward positive leadership skills:

 

1) Learn to Follow

Leadership cannot thrive without good followership.

Often, the “glory” of being labeled a leader leads athletes to neglect being a team player. To learn to lead, kids must appreciate what it looks like to be an engaged follower.

Encourage your child to develop and understand positive team values before taking on any leadership roles. Before focusing on the well-being and actions of others, opportunities to follow allow your athlete to focus first on themselves.

 

2) Find a Role Model

Paying attention to respected older athletes can teach skills and build confidence in a budding young leader.

Encourage your child to observe an athlete that’s a year or two older than them. Have them notice how they communicate with teammates and how they carry themselves throughout practices and games. If the role model is well-picked, your child will receive some great lessons in leadership and will be able to clearly picture themselves in future leadership roles.

 

3) Appreciate the Bar

Being a student-athlete leader requires being a bit different.

This is a challenging reality for young adults, as “fitting in” is such a powerful motivator during these stages of life. It’s important to remind your child that they can still be a kid, yet also set a standard for themselves that’s a little higher than average.

Help your child choose a few “mature” habits through which they can take great pride. Then, acknowledge the stressors of both leadership and growing up, and support them when they stumble.

 

4) Communicate Clearly

Too often, the communication style of young leaders is nothing more than boasting about victory and dominating opponents. While being passionate about victory is wonderful, bragging and shouting is not very effective communication.

Great leaders are great communicators. And great communicators are great listeners. After listening, encouraging language is what pushes teams forward. Adolescent leaders should leave coaching talk to coaches, and instead lead through emotional nudges and a supportive ear. Remind your child that listening is the sweet spot of great communication, while preaching often falls on deaf ears.

 

5) Bring Bravery

Cheer on your young leader when they make an effort at doing and saying the right things. As adults, these things may seem basic to us now, yet they require bravery as a child.

Everyone wants to be well-liked by their peers, so it can be scary to try and set a higher standard. It can also be challenging to be in the middle of communication between passionate athletes and hard-working coaches. As a parent, cheer on their bravery and support the emotional challenges that come with learning to lead.

—

Effectively leading requires patience, quality communication skills, and a commitment to values. Encouraging your child to embrace leadership and the associated emotions allows them to get the most out of their sporting experiences.

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Goal-Setting Lesson Video Transcript

Hi. I’m Trevon, Trey, Jennifer. Team USA wheelchair basketball player, paralympian, and true sport athlete. Today, I want to talk to you about goal setting. And there are three things that I would like you to know. First, successful athletes set goals and a planned roadmap. Second, goals should be written down, assessed over time, and changed if necessary. And third, goals need to be challenging in order to be worthwhile. As a freshmen at Edinboro University, I was a part of a team that made the national championship game. And at that time I recognized I was the low man on the totem pole, but I felt in my heart that I knew my dreams were so much bigger than winning a national title. I wanted to make Team USA. I knew what achieving my lofty goal was not going to be easy and that I would need to work hard every day.

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Body Image Lesson Video Transcript

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A Good Sport Lesson Video Transcript

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What Kind of Coach Do You Want to Be? Video Transcript

Edwin Moses: You’re a coach. Maybe what you want is very simple, for everyone to just run in the right direction, score for their own team, to try and try again and again. Maybe you want your athletes to become all stars. You want them to earn trophies, medals, win titles. You want them to reach the highest height their sport allows. And wanting all of that, of course, that’s good. But as every great coach discovers, developing a great athlete means nurturing, nurturing the even greater person within. Truth is, you have even more influence than you know.

You have the ability to affect even deeper change, to take what’s in your hands and do something even more extraordinary. You can be both the coach who provides the skills needed to win the game and the coach who helps them learn and succeed beyond the sport, to become all stars wherever they land in the future, and to enjoy their lives more now, because the confidence and courage they find working with you will stay with them when they need it the most. There are games to be won, lives to change. Coaches have the power to do both.

I’m Edwin Moses, and the lessons I’ve learned through sport have challenged me, guided me, and shaped my life forever. What kind of coach do you want to be?

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At first glance, dietary supplements look the same. They seem safe and healthy, but just because the label says a product is a dietary supplement, that doesn’t mean it’s safe. Unfortunately, you can’t tell whether a product is safe or not just by looking at the label. Most vitamins, minerals, fish oil, and other supplements containing nutrients are probably just fine, but supplements are not evaluated or approved by FDA before they are sold. Although it is rare for vitamins or minerals to be contaminated with drugs, there has been at least one case of a vitamin containing an anabolic steroid.

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