Abraham Lincoln, being an astute politician had interacted with all categories of politicians. He observed as he mingled with this class of persons, that some would consider themselves and their gains ahead of the people and others would sacrifice even their lives to see that they herald the people’s voice.
Abraham Lincoln wanted his child to know this. This was because as a father who had become a president, he was expecting nothing less from his son. He expected that his son will join him in creating a political dynasty, one of dedicated service.
Parents do want to see their children displace them and even outdo them. This is their wish. In keeping with their wish, they do want to see the continuation of the guiding principles that have seen them achieve the height they have achieved. They want a family tree of good virtue, and they know where to run to, to the teacher.
Kids are naturally selfish. They do want to hold back and want to grab for themselves. If this trait is not checked, they could grow into selfish persons in the future. Abraham Lincoln had observed this trait in his son so to check that, he had to develop his son towards purposeful leadership. He did not want his child to look at the world in the eye of the many selfish persons he was reading and hearing about in the media, who were stealing the nation’s wealth as we do have in our time. He wanted him to understand that though, these selfish persons were around him, they were not the standard for any person who would be a heralded leader. To whom would he run? To a teacher.
We often assume that because corruption is the norm that means that everyone is corrupt. There is this assumption that one must be corrupt and grab his share of the national cake when he is opportune to get into the seat of government. Against this backdrop, many persons stand as examples, people that have obtained their wealth through hardwork. These people have chosen to strive hard to obtain their wealth. They understood what failure could be and strived to achieve what they have achieved.
Teachers have the responsibility to show their students good examples. Children should learn to develop good role models from an early age, people whose moral standing is sound godly principles based. Teachers have to have a bio data of good persons which they can ask the students to look up to as models
Parents should also exhibit good traits that their kids can see and take example form. Because kids learn first from their parents, it is possible that negative traits can easily find their way through from parents to kids thus posing a challenge for teachers to change them in the future.
Great leaders are those who understand the principles of sacrifice. Parent should teach their wards sacrifice as a great virtue. They should not support their wards when they want to get something through unwholesome means. Kids should learn that others should come first. By doing this, you are building in the wards virtue of sacrifice that will come handy in the future when they are opportune to hold leadership positions. Kids should learn that true leaders are sacrificial leaders.
The time to build our future leaders is now. If our nation desires leaders in the future who would be people oriented in their programmes and service, then we must begin to inculcate in our young minds the fact that they are tomorrow’s leaders and as such, the training for true leaders must begin with them.