Parent As Leader – A New Definition of Parenting – Part 1

There are many roles that individuals play throughout their lives. Some roles involve interacting with people that are above us:

Parents
Grandparents
Teachers
Employers
Law enforcement

Other roles involve interacting with people that are below us:

Children
Grandchildren
Students
Employees
Citizens

Finally, there are the roles we play when interacting with people on the same level as us:

Friends
Lovers
Siblings
Classmates
Co-workers
Colleagues

What gets confusing is when an individual becomes a parent, he or she interacts with others on all 3 levels simultaneously! Parents have to balance their own “personal identity” because the majority of their life has been formulating relationships with others as equals, or listening to individuals above them. This has the potential to be a very bad setup for a new parent.

A new parent can be extremely challenged and unsure of how to handle his or her emerging role as superior, when a child is born. After all, this newborn is the sole responsibility of the two new parents. Questions are bound to arise concerning how to define and balance this unfamiliar “role” we call parenting.

Defining the role of parent:

Although children come through parents, they are not extensions of parents. They are selfish from birth for their survival, and the things they say and do are about them. They will continue to act this way until their current problem solving strategies are replaced with socially accepted ones. Therefore, defining the role of parent is simply leading them. Successful leadership is achieved by teaching your child/teen socially acceptable skills that will help him or her transition from childhood to adulthood. By making this investment, he or she can carry on the family legacy and become productive members in society.