Everything I Learned about Leadership, I Learned in Kindergarten

Back in kindergarten, we were taught the basic principles of getting along with others. While these beliefs may seem juvenile, these basics still apply to relationships of all sorts, especially within the realm of business. By the time many individuals reach adulthood, these elementary lessons may be forgotten and are instead replaced by new, more complicated concepts. What we must understand is this: leadership is at its core built upon very basic principles and if you think about it, everything you need to know about leadership, you learned in kindergarten.

There is no ‘I’ in team When you were a kid, if you didn’t share your toys, you didn’t make friends. If you were selfish, you didn’t succeed. It was simple. Same goes for leadership. You can’t be selfish.You have to be a team player and truly embrace that “there is no ‘I’ in team”. A respected leader I worked with in the past once said “Nobody is gonna party, unless we all party”. This simple statement reinforced the simple idea that we are all in this together and we can only achieve as a team. Driving a team mentality is essential to leadership. Nobody can do it alone.

Don’t be a bully In kindergarten, we were encouraged to make friends and were punished for being a bully. The same goes for business dynamics. It’s easy for some to think that status in an organization might give you the right to be a bully but nothing can be further from the truth. Leadership is about inclusion rather than exclusion. Those who are collaborative, respect others and listen are rewarded with engaged organizations that drive high output and those that are bullies eventually all get punished, either by a demotivated and disengaged team that doesn’t achieve or (hopefully) by being fired. Being a jerk catches up to everyone eventually. Don’t be a bully!

Honesty is the best policy We were all taught as kids that “honesty is the best policy.” Some say kids are brutally honest but there is nothing brutal about telling the truth as long as you do it with respect. Leaders are honest, develop trust, give clear feedback and encourage their teams to do the same. An open and honest environment allows teams to flourish and not get bogged down in politics. It allows the team to focus and always know where they stand and react accordingly. Always be honest and you’ll find that your team will appreciate it immensely.

Gold stars work Remember how you felt when you got a “gold star”? The pride you felt followed by the motivation to get more. What a great incentive system that was that worked to positively reinforce good behavior. Leaders do the same. Leaders do a great job in clearly defining the behaviors that are “good” vs “bad” and tirelessly reward the good behavior. Simply put, incentives matter! They not only serve as a reward system but they more importantly define what works and what doesn’t work in your organization. Instead of focusing on punishing or controlling the negative, give some gold stars out for the positive and you’ll see that it is much more effective.

Business leadership may not be as easy as the A-B-Cs, but it is certainly much less complicated when approached with the fundamentals that we learned as children. Of course there is more to it, but you can’t build a house without a strong foundation. These basic principles, form your foundation for leadership. Keep it simple!