February is Youth Leadership Month — the goal being to encourage young people to take up leadership roles and contribute to their community. Developing your child’s leadership skills begins in early childhood. Here are a few tips to get you started:



Work on their confidence first


Leaders are confident and self-assured. Therefore, it’s important that you build your child’s confidence through positive reinforcement and affirmation. When your child takes initiative and completes a task independently and successfully, acknowledge their hard work and efforts:



Encourage them to use their problem-solving skills  


Leaders are often tasked with identifying problems and finding solutions. To build your child’s leadership skills, you must first develop their problem-solving skills. When presented with obstacles or challenges, ask for your child’s thoughts and feedback. Encourage them to think outside the box:



Communicate


Strong leaders are effective communicators. Therefore, it is important to encourage open dialogue in your household. In everything you do, ask your child to express their thoughts and feelings:


Give them opportunities to work in a team setting


Strong leaders know to collaborate with others to achieve a common goal. Develop your child’s leadership skills by offering them opportunities to work in team settings. If your child has siblings, make cleaning up the playroom a team effort. Sign your child up for extracurricular activities like sports.



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