How early should children get exposed to values based leadership?

“How early should children get exposed to values based leadership?”

I was asked this question the other day by a new friend of mine who is setting up a summer program for young children between five years old and 12 years old.

It really got me thinking about what I have been doing since stepping down as the CEO of Baxter Healthcare 22 years ago and having the opportunity to teach at Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management.

I started with a strong opinion that the world needed a lot more values based leaders in business, government, education, religion, in fact, in any area in the world that requires leadership. Yes, it’s possible to be a leader without being values based, but that was never my focus.

I started teaching full-time MBA students, evening students, and Executive MBAs. Over time, I realized it made sense to start younger. Why not start with college students? So I started giving talks at colleges and universities around the United States. I then asked myself, why not high school students? And I started giving values based leadership talks at high schools. It seemed worthwhile to get students thinking about this even as early as 13 or 14 years of age.

And that is where I stopped until my friend raised this question. Why not start with younger children? The more I thought about it, it seemed the answer was the earlier the better.

I realized that I inadvertently raised this idea in response to a question of what would I most like to know about a person’s college transcript or CV. I responded in a slightly kidding way that turned out to be pretty serious: “I would like to see the person’s kindergarten report card and take a look at not just the grade but the response to the famous question: “How does the person work and play with others?” I figured if the person got a high grade in that area at five years old, they probably would be starting off on the right track.😂

So, after some self reflection, I told my friend he should really start with the five-year-old students and maybe focus on the four principles of values based leadership. (Why is that not a surprise answer? 😊)

I realized that to some degree I’ve already been directing a values based leadership curriculum towards my 2 1/2 year-old grandson Harrison and having a little fun with it.

Self Reflection: Harrison asked me where the sun goes at 7 or 8 PM and questioned whether the sun was going to sleep. Here he is doing a little self reflection over spring break.

Balanced Perspective: As I’m sure you’re aware, developing a balanced perspective requires you to take the time to understand multiple perspectives, or as stated in my favorite Saint Francis line, “seek to understand before you’re understood.” I happened to see Harrison pull this book from the bookcase, and I couldn’t help taking a picture.😂

True self-confidence: I think this starts to develop by realizing you can share your talents with others, and help others, including those who may be a lot smaller than you.

Genuine humility: Realizing that everyone is important, and that there are things more important than our own ego…maybe self reflection, meditation, and prayer can help along the way.