When I was first asked the question whether parenting skills were transferable to the work place (in terms of management skills), I shrugged off the idea. But, with some further reflection, I think it is entirely appropriate. Maybe it’s about letting the inner child within flourish? Maybe it’s about letting more emotion into the workplace?
Parenting Skills 101
Here are some of the good parenting skills that I believe are absolutely relevant at work:
- Staying young at heart
- Fostering curiosity
- Learning to learn again
- Encouraging creativity
- Promoting the risk of experimentation (within defined limits!)
- Learning to fail
- Working on non-verbal communication skills
- Dealing with the unexpected
- Empathy and heightened emotional intelligence
- Modeling the behavior you would like to see implemented (walk the talk)
- Linking behavior to values
- Putting the most important things first…
When I finally put the list together, I was floored by the depth of applicability. There are probably many more, but it’s a good start. What other ones would you have? Which is your favorite? Any you disagree with?
And, there may even be a strong benefit to the business if we can better relate to our children, as they are, after all, representative of our future employees and customers.
