James' World 2

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After delivering a keynote to an audience of district managers and C-Suite leaders, several attendees came up to me afterward to talk about how I balance leadership responsibilities with being a parent. Interestingly, it was a group of five men, and their questions prompted me to write this entire article.

“How do your leadership philosophies shape your parenting style?” he asked me.

“It’s simple,” I replied. “The philosophies are the same.”

I shared that as both a leader and a mother, one of my greatest ambitions is to empower the people around me. To me, leadership, whether at home or at work, isn’t just about strategy and execution; it’s about fostering resilience, encouraging critical thinking and nurturing confidence.

Another leader asked, “Can you share some of the things you teach your clients and your kids?”

And this is what I shared.

The first is: Embrace mistakes as opportunities to grow

In our home, my husband and I see mistakes as learning moments. We both feel strongly about having children who feel they can run to us when they make a mistake — not run from us. To do this, we make it a point to acknowledge our own mistakes openly, demonstrating to our kids that this is a safe space and showing that taking accountability is a strength, not a weakness.

This lesson extends beyond the home — whether in the workplace or the boardroom, creating a culture where people can learn from mistakes leads to stronger, more innovative teams. I’ll never forget when a teacher told me our oldest daughter walked into school and proudly shouted to the entire class, “My mom makes a lot of mistakes!”

The second is: Be curious before you point fingers

A pivotal moment in my parenting journey was when a member of my team posted to LinkedIn announcing the launch of a new product. The only problem with that move was that we weren’t planning on announcing the product quite yet. We had a marketing plan in place, social media posts in the works, and a landing page that wasn’t live. I was in the kitchen when my phone started buzzing with all of these alerts congratulating me, and I had no idea. Then I saw the post. And my stomach dropped. I just kept saying, “Oh no… oh no…” My daughter was next to me and saw I was upset.

“Are you going to fire him?” She asked.

“No,” I said. “I need to figure out what he was thinking when he made this decision so we can talk about it.”

Before bedtime, my daughter could see I wasn’t myself.

“What are you going to do?” she asked me.

“I’m going to try to find the silver lining.”

She asked what that meant, and I explained it.

When you find the silver lining, if you find something else that’s good on top of that, will that be your gold lining?” she inquired.

“You know what? It should be,” I said. “Once I find the silver lining, I’m going to try the gold lining for sure.”

She then asked, “Did all of the people who know you see this post?”

“No,” I said.

“Then the silver lining can be that you still have a lot of people to tell.”

And she fell asleep.

In parenting, when my kids make a mistake, we don’t ask, “Why did you do that?!” We choose to take a step back and ask, “What were you thinking?” In work scenarios, I’ve found approaching situations with curiosity before blame leads to constructive conversations and deeper understanding. My team and I grew stronger from this misstep, and my daughter got to see what it looks like to take a step back and understand a mistake before making any major decisions. She also learned the valuable skill of finding the good in things — even when that feels hard.

The third is: Prioritize effort over outcome

Success isn’t defined solely by results — it’s about the dedication and perseverance behind them. When my daughter proudly presents a project she has worked on, I focus on the effort.

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Entrepreneur

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