3 / 30 / 2023

Dear Friends,

The expression “monkey see, monkey do” has been around for ages, but how many of us really consider what we MODEL for our kids?

I have a brilliant entrepreneurial friend from business school who believes strongly that the values around entrepreneurship (resilience, persistence, problem solving, risk-taking) are critically important. He not only talks about entrepreneurship with his girls, he actively seeks out ways to engage them in similar activities of their own. He puts in significant time to intentionally showcase and model.

Another friend of mine cares deeply about exposing his daughter to different cultures, teaching her curiosity and compassion to people around the globe. In recent years he’s taken her on some incredible international trips, but when she was younger and he didn’t have a lot of money, he did it in a different way. He bought her maps and globes and actually sought out unique international pen pal opportunities.  

The same holds true for whatever is important to you - philanthropy, relationships, even the values of positivity and optimism. The key is to do more than talk about their importance. As a friend of mine says “Show, don’t tell.”

It can be time consuming and challenging for sure, as is often the case for life’s best lessons. Because it matters. Because as adults, we can preach and pontificate until we’re blue in the face, but ultimately that’s useless. Kids (even the absolute best of them) will tune us out. But that doesn’t mean they’re not watching. I’ve often said kids have the best BS-barometers of us all, and I still believe that. They don’t blindly trust what you say, but they absolutely watch what you do.

If you think about it, it’s really a remarkable opportunity. To recognize that with your actions you can genuinely inspire . . . that’s tremendously powerful.