Parenting with a Story

September 15, 2014
Smith extends the didactic model for corporate motivation that he introduced in Lead with a Story into the realm of parenting, giving doting fathers a collection of over 100 true-life stories to help them give advice to their kids. In general, the anecdotes illustrate such traditional moral values as courage, self-discipline, kindness, and humility. In general, the perspective is middle-class, middle-aged, and, perhaps, unrelatable for today’s children and teens. Current key topics like social media and sexuality, with which older parents may need the most help, are skipped. A few celebrity stories appear, such as one about Larry Bird choosing an agent, but for the most part, these everyday success stories and life lessons blend together blandly when presented in such rapid sequence. The author recommends that parents retell favorite selections in their own words; he even provides a chart at the conclusion to help match the right tales to the right situations. Smith creates a model for parents seeking to steer their kids toward good choices by traditional examples, but for those practicing more modern parenting styles, there’s less of value here.