by Justin Leader
justindleader@gmail.com
Fatherhood is upon me. After 36 years I will become a first time Dad. At this point, I am about 65 days away from our 7/11/2019 due date. Nervous? Absolutely. Excited? I couldn’t be happier. I do however find my mind often wandering during the chaos of the day and especially in the downtimes between meetings. I think about what type of parent I will be.
About 3 years ago I started to think about the inevitability of becoming a parent when I first met my wife. I thought about the past few decades of lessons learned and how I might be able to provide my child with a blueprint, or at the very least a starting point of some life lessons I learned along the way. I decided to create a list for him or her. At this point, we don’t know the sex of our child and look forward to the surprise when it happens. Hopefully, you can relate to some of these lessons, and find humor in them, as I have. While it is a working list, I am sure many changes will occur as time goes on. My hope is that our kiddo forges their own path, creating their very own list of life lessons while reflecting back on this starting point.
For me at least, parenthood and leadership are synonymous and a direct reflection of the individual’s character both personally as well as professionally. Without further do I present to you, Leader’s Life Lessons.
Rule 1: Always Smile. No matter the situation stay hopeful and optimistic. Life is about resilience. Even in the direst of situations we must find hope and that hope should bring us a smile.
Rule 2: Never trust a fart. Self-explanatory. The best rule, also, see Rule #7.
Rule 3: Always listen to your parents. They are pretty much always right.
Rule 4: It’s hard to go to the bathroom with a backpack on. (If you have a load on your back, it makes life/tasks a lot harder. Lighten the load. I speak from experience once getting stuck in a bathroom stall, unable to move.)
Rule 5: Laugh out loud at least once a day. Preferably twice.
Rule 6: Mind your manners and respect your elders.
Rule 7: If rule #2 is ignored just remember that most messes in life can be cleaned up.
Rule 8: Never lie. Honorable people don’t lie.
Rule 9: The richest people understand that quality time with the ones you love is what makes someone extremely wealthy. Warren Buffet said it best in regard to success. Success is reaching a point in your life where the ones you want to love you, actually love you.
Rule 10: Never give up. Leaders never quit.
I hope that you will share some words of wisdom regarding your own journey as well as the lessons you have passed on to your children as well as those you cherish.