Melissa Benaroya is a licensed clinical social worker who practices as a parent coach. What I love about Melissa is that she is my wife! 😉 But what I also love is that she has committed herself to supporting parents in raising children in a way that creates more harmony in the home. The struggles and the nagging and the frustration and the arguments and the punishment all take a toll on how we show up in other parts of our life. Build your parenting strategies and the benefits are tremendous. Melissa guides parents to build and execute that plan. Listen, just like in business, there is no perfect playbook for how you parent. And parents that want to be their best, just like athletes, have coaches.
What was so enjoyable about spending time learning from Melissa is that there are some great parallels between raising children and guiding your organization. We often say in entrepreneurship that our company is our “baby” and it’s true. We have a lot of responsibility in how we raise it, how it treats other, how it comes back from defeat and how it celebrates successes. Melissa shared with us the power of “choices” for children. Rather than saying “NO”, it is more of a “YES, AND”. If your child is throwing legos around the house, instead of telling them to stop that, why not give them a choice. How about this, “You can either play with your blocks and build something or we can put them away until later when you’re ready to use them appropriately. It’s up to you.” We replace dictating with empowerment. And that’s what we want to do with our teams, right? That’s what great managers do. They ask questions. They pose choices. The encourage ownership and critical thinking. Carol Dweck, in her book, Mindset, calls this a Growth Mindset. That’s what Melissa infuses into her coaching.
In Melissa’s practice, she guides families to use empathy as a form of connection and an opportunity to regulate emotions. You can learn more about her coaching at her website. She has also developed a number of courses at Childproof Parenting. Thanks Melissa for a refreshing change of topic that most everyone will find some relation to. Be sure to check it out!
In this Freedom Speaker Series episode with Melissa, you will learn:
- Relationship between parenting and building a business
- The function of empathy in a family
- How to create harmony in your home
We are fortunate to have Melissa available to spend time with us on this edition of Stride 2 Freedom. If there is a speaker you’d like us to interview, click here and let us know. Stay well. Stay safe. Stay healthy.
Show Notes and Links From Episode:
Melissa Benaroya website | Linkedin | email
Childproof Parenting
