Home is the first school, and the mother is the first teacher. Lessons learned here don’t bring you a certificate but give you the foundation to become an achiever in life.

The mother is more than a teacher; she is a leader who inspires more than any other leader one will come across in life. Her teachings, her values, her conduct, her acts, her moods, her sacrifices, her actions all influence the way her child will shape up and perform later in life.

Achievers are leaders and influencers who set up the path for others to follow. It is their action and behaviour which inspires others to emulate, and behind the success lies the strong foundation of values imparted by the greatest leader of them all – the mother.

What is a leadership skill?

So, what makes a great leader, and why do leadership skills in women matter in raising achievers in the family?

Empathy

A leader’s first quality is empathy. A leader needs to understand the capability, emotion, and response of every member of the team and customise responses accordingly with each individual. A mother makes a terrific leader as she possesses a natural empathy for every member of the family – continually adapting and adjusting to each one.

Perseverance

A mother teaches the child to persevere through good times and bad, through happy moods and the lows, never stopping and always believing a new day brings new opportunities. An achiever applies lessons in perseverance later in life – from goal setting to remaining focused on achieving one milestone at a time.

Patience

Noticed how a mother invariably remains calm, at least most of the time, with the naughty and restless child. Her calmness in every situation teaches patience to the child as the child grows up and begins facing small challenges each day. Patience and perseverance are hallmarks of achievers, and the mother personifies it best.

Sagacity

A mother remains sagacious in her clear-sighted ways of managing her limited resources for the maximum benefit of the child and all members of the house. She displays an intelligent approach when the situation demands but remains humble when it comes to herself. An achiever applies the lessons on sagacity later in life to win over those around and exploiting and optimising opportunities as they come.

Responsibility

Raising a child is a responsibility every mother accepts voluntarily. It is a responsibility that keeps the mother going through good and bad times, never allowing her negative feelings to percolate down to her child. Responsibility is making sure life carries on as planned without disruption or unplanned deviation.

The achiever learns it from the mother. To be successful, one has to be responsible for one’s behaviour, motivation, and focused actions, all of which lead to the stated goal — the woman of the house teaches it through practice.

Lead by example

Leaders and achievers set examples by raising the bar of performance and expectation. From whom do they first learn it? The mother.

Remember the cold winter mornings or days of heavy rain when the mother stepped out to bring the child’s essentials? The mother remains the first inspiration of the inspiring exemplar. Achievers lead by example; mothers do that naturally.

Goal setter

Small goals bring significant results. No one understands this better than a mother. As each day passes, the mother sets new goals, it could be on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis but there is always a goal for each member of the house, especially the child.

Rules laid, timelines met, and where deviations occur, course correction follows automatically. The goal remains in place until achieved. Lessons achievers pick up early by watching their mothers. Teachers, mentors, coaches all come much later.

Time management

Achievers lay down short goals with a timeline and then create a strategy to achieve each milestone as they progress towards the final goal. Mothers set goals all the time, and there is always a strict timeline to follow. It’s an innate quality imbibed from parents and passed on to the next generation.

Similarly, leaders hone the art of time management over time, but mothers are the earliest practitioners of it. Remember, how the food always made it to the table on time, and how the medicine was always given on time? Lack of money, inclement weather, or bad mood never deterred the mother from achieving her day’s goal.

Team player

Leaders lead teams and bring out the best each member of the team. The mother is the essential central leader who plans the physical and emotional development of the child. The child, in turn, learns the nuances and the advantages of working with the family, the first team in the child’s life.

Achievers succeed due to individual initiative and motivation but optimise their performance with the help of the team they lead. Home is where it all begins.

Mentor and Coach

The first mentor and coach in a person’s life is the mother. She knows what’s best for the child and how she wants the child to behave and act. Based on each child’s personality and responses, she adapts her plan, always remaining focused on the objective for the day, week, month, year, and life in general.

Praise and punishment

A child grows up in an environment of reward and punishment for every action. For each positive action, the child is praised, often throughout life, by the mother. Some of the most touching moments are the words of praise uttered by the mother to her child during her last days, fondly recalling moments in the past. She remains the only person whose words ring through a person’s life, the silent guiding light in times when all seems down.

Recognition and reward

With positive action, a child learns the benefits of recognition and reward as motivators. Later in life, these remain important tools achievers use on themselves and others to reach goals.

No credit

A good coach and mentor always gives credit and praise to the mentee rather than take credit for the mentee’s performance. Mothers remain humble through life as they watch their little ones grow and succeed in every phase of their lives. She continually motivates and encourages her child to excel and outperform, taking no credit for the success achieved. That’s a mother, a perfect example in humility and dedication to her responsibility.

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