Peter J. Liang is the founder of
Leadership4kids, a leadership development organization committed to helping
kids become better leaders through mind and body education to improve movement
patterns, self-confidence, and presence. For nearly ten years, Peter has used his experience gained as a business and tech executive, and a board member for various organizations to help kids develop leadership qualities such as gratitude, courage, and grit so they can live a more fulfilled life.
A sought-after speaker on the topic of youth leadership development and leadership embodiment practices, Peter is also a Forbes Contributor and a recipient of the 40 Under 40 Award by Long Island Business News.
Peter is a graduate of Harvard University's Strategic Management certification program and holds an M.B.A. from Columbia University and a Computer Science degree from Stony Brook University. A long-time practitioner of Tai-Chi, which forms the foundation of his leadership embodiment practice, Peter has also been trained in Being in Movement mind/body education, stress reduction, compassionate power, and peacemaking.
Tell your readers a little about yourself, where you grew up, where you live now, where you went to school etc. Let them get to know the personal you.
I was born in a very small town in the Northeastern part of China in 1977. In the early 1990s, my family immigrated from China to upstate New York. My Dad was a researcher at the Northeastern Science Foundation in Troy, NY - he was a renowned geology professor – so there were always lots of books (and rocks) around the house, and that definitely had some influence on me. I grew up loving to read and write every day.
I studied Computer Science and Philosophy in college and then earned a MBA from Columbia Business School in New York City. After a couple of years working on Wall Street as an investment manager, I realized my heart was just not in there. So I launched an e-learning company in the early days of social network. It didn’t work out, but I learned a ton from being in the trenches as an entrepreneur. Then I worked as a management consultant for a while, where I advised clients on business and product strategy and ended up joining one of my clients, a global information services company, as a business and marketing executive.
In terms of family, I met my
wife, Judy, in college back in 1997 and we got married in 2005. We have two
children, Benjamin (10-year-old) and Audrey (7 years old) and we live a pretty
simple and blessed life on Long Island, right outside of New York City.
What
inspired you to create this journal?
A few years ago, as our children Benjamin and Audrey were getting older, my wife and I began exploring various after-school programs. There were certainly many options available for academics, sports, arts, or music, but we couldn’t find anything focused on leadership skills such as focus, confidence, mindfulness, and grit. By that time, given my own experience with personal growth development, I understood how important these skills are. That’s when I heard the knocking from the inside, and I realize I need to do something about this.
So I founded Leadership4Kids
and began a series of youth leadership workshops in my local community. The
Leadership4Kids (L4K) program is an exciting, fun, action-packed program
designed to help children gain specific skills so they can use in schools and other
situations demanding leadership of self and others. These Leadership4Kids programs
have become hugely popular and proliferated through word of mouths.
As part of my Leadership4Kids
program, I ask each child to keep a journal where I give them daily prompts related
to different aspects of leadership skills. The goal is to help them develop
self-awareness and a habit of gratitude and appreciation. The “I AM A LEADER”
journal came straight out of these “daily assignments” from this program.
I used to print these out
from my little printer and bind the pages myself. Then I had parents asking for
it, so I went to Staples’ print center and gave them out to parents who wanted
them. After seeing countless examples of how a simple daily journal can help
kids gain skills such as self-awareness, confidence and grit, and many parents coming
up to me specifically thanking me for this daily journal practice, I know it’s
time to get it published so more kids around the world can benefit from it.
Where
did you get the inspiration for your cover?
The cover reflects my eclectic style, and each element is uniquely meaningful to me. First, I love books, so of course, it has to be there, front and center. I also believe that learning, whether it’s about leadership or anything else, is always a journey and what better way to represent journey than a sailboat.
A big
part of my philosophy when it comes to leadership is that “leadership
intelligence is anchored in the body.” It’s less about ideas in the head. That’s
why you see the anchor, and the sun represents “shinning,” which part of the
centering exercise I teach in the class.
Last but
not least, the compass reminds us that we all have to follow our inner compass
and find our true north. The essence of leadership is about being true to
ourselves.
What
were your struggles or obstacles you had to overcome to create this journal?
Writer Steven Pressfield says it the best - we all have capital-R Resistance to our life's work, in the form of procrastination, distraction, and self-medication. So that pretty much sums up my struggle as well. The idea of the “leadership journal for kids” has been in my head for years and of course, eventually, I just got tired of telling myself “I will get it done someday.” I just got tired to the point, I remember coming back from a business trip, and somehow I got a shot of energy and inspiration and couldn’t really think about anything else. So I just tapped into that energy, whatever that was, I definitely tapped into it. So I just worked on this project day and night for about two weeks straight, sleeping maybe an hour or two and didn’t stop until it’s done. Now I think of it, any time I created something reasonably meaningful, I go through a similar process.
Tell
our readers about your journal.
As a parent, the fact that you are looking to develop leadership skills for your kids shows that you’re already doing an amazing job. “I AM A LEADER: a 90-Day Leadership Journal for Kids” is simply a tool to help you.
This
daily journal is a fun way to teach kids (8-12) leadership skills such as
confidence, gratitude, and grit that will help them grow and live a more
fulfilled life. Every day, the journal starts with a simple “centering”
exercise, gratitude, and a few thoughtful writing prompts that focus on different
aspects of leadership over a 12 week period. These topics include Gratitude,
Self-Awareness, Courage, Power of Intention, Growth Mindset, Communications,
Collaboration, Persistence, Goal Setting, Grit, Take Action, and Make a
Difference in the World.
The truth is, if you look at leadership related material out there,
the model of leadership has been made for men by men. It has a lot of military
and industrial age roots. It’s not appropriate for kids, and it’s not
appropriate for this day and age either. As parents, we definitely need
something that works for kids and also, a model that works for the global and
connected world we live in today. That’s why I put together this leadership journal for
kids. So any kid, anywhere in the world, can use it and benefit from it.
Who is
your target audience, and why?
It’s for any parents who want to help their
children develop leadership skills such as self-awareness, gratitude,
confidence, and grit. In general, this journal is a great gift for kids 8-12- year-olds and many parents tell me it’s
perfect for back-to-school and a unique birthday gift idea as well.
