Perhaps your little thinker has shown leadership potential (and we don’t mean just the average bossiness). Perhaps they haven’t, but you still want them to understand the concept, so they can choose their leaders more effectively. Leadership is an important subject for any child, for a number of reasons, and one that’s actually fun to discuss.
Here are some big questions to get you started:
- How do leaders get chosen? Do they decide for themselves, or should others decide to make them the leader? Does everyone have to agree on a leader?
- What happens if a leader isn’t doing a good job? What can people do about it?
- Should we have the same leaders forever, or should we switch them up? How often should they change?
- What qualities should a leader have? If you had to pick the three most important ones, what would they be?
- Can there be more than one leader? How should they work together?
- Can someone learn to be a leader, or are some people just born leaders? How can you tell?
- Can you think of someone from a book, a cartoon, a movie or a video game who is a good leader? What makes them so?
Leadership is a topic that will inevitably pop up frequently as your child grows up. Whether it’s Serving as team captain in sports, being chosen as the lead in the school play, or running for a position on school council, they’ll encounter questions about it. If they’re encouraged to talk about it while they’re small, then leadership will be far less overwhelming and mystifying when they’re old enough to vote, step up at work, or even hold public office.
Happy thinking!