Confidence

Leadership requires confidence. From adults leading a child, and for a child working to become a leader. Collective confidence is the sum of the confidence of the individuals in the group. Confidence has been described by some as the simple and sure knowledge that each member of the group is capable, that they belong to a solid, competent group that knows where its going and what it has to do.

Success of the leader means that followers have:

• confidence in their own ability
• confidence in the ability of others in the group
• confidence in the available tools, equipment, and resources
• confidence in their leadership

Effective leaders act confidently. The leader's attitude sets the tone for the entire group, and you choose your attitude day-to-day, task-to-task, even minute-to-minute. Remember that optimism, a positive outlook, and a sense of humor are infectious. This is especially true when you must make unpopular decisions and face the challenge of bringing the team on board.

So kids preparing to be leaders need adults around them to help them develop their talents, so that talents performed well bear the fruit of confidence. Be careful of efforts from any that attempt to separate the result of confidence from the initiating action, strong performance.

The amount of confidence leaders possess affects the way they do their job. Lack of confidence in themselves or their followers may result in over supervision. I have seen this happen with predictable consequences so many times. In contrast, confidence begets appropriate delegation with less direct supervision. Close supervision can be good where the aim is to develop employees, but may retard the development of initiative, so vital for long term successful results. Interestingly, this idea applies to adults in the lives of a child future-leader.