As we constantly aim to be better at leadership, and as some of us don’t have the chance or the ambition to be leaders in the workplace, let’s not forget that “the closest thing to leadership is parenting” as  Simon Sinek, beautifully puts it in this talk.

Some time ago I applied for a leadership position, and in one of the interviews, a more senior manager immediately acknowledged my role as a mother and how it counts as a leadership experience. Of course he couldn’t know how good or bad I am at it, but he still recognized this reality, and that made me see how little did I think of parenting as leadership. The closest thing to leadership is parenting. Let us not forget this.

When we read books, articles on how to be better at parenting or how to deal with tantrums / how to help our children eat more veggies / how to turn our children more empathic etc, when we ask our parents or friends how they dealt with parenting challenges, we are in fact committed to constantly improving ourselves as role models and leaders for our children and to improving their lives. Parenting is a lifestyle, just like leadership is.