Chris Collins argues parenting isn't just leadership but a two-way street where parents lead and follow. His nonverbal autistic son taught him that children guide caregivers through connection and play, not just obedience.
When you're a parent, I mean, as a leader, you are leading, but you are also following leadership. On a corporate level, at least in the years that I was a corporate executive, it was very much follow me. This is our initiative, this is what we're trying to do. The record company, we got to do this or we have to change strategies or whatever it is. And it's very much follow me leadership, which I think in politics in a lot of ways people see themselves as leaders. Well, because people follow me, but with kids and as a parent and I'm a special needs dad, I'm an autism dad, I have a son who's been.
No expressive language and the phenomenon of a parent that is.
Little Chris, come and show Uncle Johnny that you can play the guitar or whatever it is. It's very performative. But when you have a child that doesn't have that natural ability and you want to connect with that child, you can't say, hey, come and let's do this. You have to go, you have to go. When I wanted to connect with my, my oldest son, I, at some point I, I wasn't connecting with him. And then he would be under the COVID sometimes, maybe playing with a toy or something, and then I start going under the covers with him. I would just go under and just be with him. And he was leading me. And I think what kids do is that on the one hand, as a parent, your responsibility, you have to lead through those elements. But the reciprocity, the organic reciprocity that happens, that makes you a better parent. I think you bring up the perfect example because the accountability, the reporting structure is instantaneous and it is felt. The reverberations of bad leadership decisions are felt. Yeah. And they are. That thermostat is not just controlled by one person. It's not just, I'm the leader and so I am setting the temperature here. Your constituents are, they're going to tell you what they need and you can't fire them.
