Originally Posted by suevv
Originally Posted by Dude
Put me in the column of parents here who support the notion that leadership skills are best developed organically.

In fact if they aren't learned organically, they aren't learned at all. And I don't think this is an issue for kids only, or for leadership only.

This is why - at work - I want to poke my eyes out in order to avoid "career development" classes on mushy things like leadership, management, teamwork, mentoring, trust, women's issues and all the related Dilbert stuff. I have to do these "mandatory" classes all the time. I can honestly say I've never applied a single thing I "learned" in them. They are artificial, useless and profoundly irritating.

To the extent it's useful for your daughter - let her know that it's not just her!

Sue

This is an interesting perspective. Organically learning... do you mean people somehow just figure out how to be good leaders by trial and error? I would submit that that isn't necessarily so.

IMO, there's some good research that can help us make sense of some of the "soft stuff." I say this having had both hands-on learning experiences and camps/courses/books that supplemented those experiences.