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Prepare your child for career successToday's executive mom is shopping for the perfect day care provider and school for their child even before the birth. Women want their children to achieve the same level of success they have, or to exceed that level. Creating an adult successful in the career world should also start the day your child is born. Children become curious about careers at a young age. Career Coach Kris Kalleher, M.A., says children begin thinking about careers as early as the age of six. Some of that early attention to careers comes from watching and listening to their parents. Often while introducing themselves, adults convert who they are to what they are by adding what they do to their introduction. By hearing this, children learn it is important to say what they want to be when they grow up. How many adults do you know who ask children "What do you want to be?" This adds to the child's tendency to think about what they want to be when they grow up. Evidence has shown babies in utero hear music and voices. Many mothers play a variety of music and read out loud to expose their babies to the arts and literature. This begins the educational process before the baby arrives. Start right away. Speak to your child and expand his or her horizons from the very beginning. As your child grows encourage reading and writing, again by example. Joint trips to the library or local bookstore are great ways to spend family time. Also encourage your child to participate in organizations that provide opportunities to speak in front of groups. You don't want your child to grow up with the "I'd rather die than give a speech" mentality. Curiosity and research build on each other. Curiosity begins very soon after birth according to family counselor and owner of Alternatives and Resolutions Counseling Services, Rose Mary Smith, M.A., L.P.C. It is important to keep children questioning so they are willing to consider a wide range of occupations. Teach your child to question and think outside the box. As busy and tired as we all are, it is imperative we answer each question, even if the child has asked it twenty times already. Curiosity is a major building block of success.
Children question what they want and can be when they grow up. They ask things like what does a designer do and can I do that? Keep them asking questions and show them how to do research. When they ask questions, teach them to find the answers with the resources available. Encourage their questions and let them gain all the knowledge they can on a topic before they automatically move on to the next. They will naturally learn about many opportunities available to them. A high self-esteem is essential to raising a child to be a successful adult. Build their self-esteem by valuing their inquisitiveness and encouraging further discussion. Show them what they have to say is worthwhile. They are worthwhile. If your child expresses an interest in a particular field, do not squelch that interest even though you know his or her career ambitions will change many times before they graduate from high school. I overheard an elementary school principal say to a student, "You can't be a doctor, you are not bright enough." How limiting those words were! To be successful, children must believe they can learn anything, do anything and be anything. Team playing begins with learning to share at a very young age. Children who learn to cooperate well in play will translate those skills to being part of a cohesive team as an adult. They must also learn to share in the kudos or blame in order to share both the good and bad ramifications of their actions as part of a team. Also, according to Kalliher, tenacity is critical to success. Teach your children through example to set goals and go after them. Show them the payoffs of never giving up. Let them know you are struggling to meet a goal so they can see what it is like to achieve a difficult end. If your child gives a valiant effort and misses their end goal, be supportive and let them know how proud you are of their efforts. Encourage them to reset the goal and try again. Finally, look back at your own upbringing. You are an executive mom. How did you gain that success? What did your parents do to encourage you? Take what worked and use it! Keep in mind the characteristics common to successful adults and reinforce them in your child at every opportunity. Also see: How parents can change child's "poor sport" attitude
Dr. Kathleen Wells is the director of Coaches That Care and provides a full range of online career services. As the Career Coach for BlueSuitMom you can ask her your career questions. Contact her at doctorw1@frontiernet.net
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