Kids have a lot of traits commonly identified in adept leaders–brilliantly perceptive, brutally honest, ruthlessly observant, steadily curious.

Then when we saw the The New York Times article reporting that executives–regardless of their ain gender–more often than not drew a man when asked to draw a leader, we wondered when that bias starts and what lessons we could gain from asking kids the aforementioned questions.

After all, a child's encephalon hasn't been wired to years of bias, assumptions, and mental associations the mode an adult's brain has, and so practise the same kind of unconscious assumptions influence a child's idea of leadership?

We asked 10 kids betwixt the ages of 3 and 12 to "draw a leader." Beneath are the results:

Emma, iii, drew her instructor, Ms. Noreen, considering she 'teaches me' and her mom because she 'feeds me yogurt.'

Emma [Photo: courtesy of Titilayo and Olugbenga Hassan]

Emma explained that she drew Ms. Noreen because she teaches her new things like how to count (Emma and then demonstrated by counting from one to 10) and the alphabet (which Emma proved by singing the alphabet). She says her mom is a leader considering she takes her to school, helps her with her homework, and feeds her yogurt. Emma says she'due south also a leader herself considering she helps her younger sister, Lily.

Emma'southward parents are Titilayo and Olugbenga Hassan, both from Nigeria and are now living in Plano, Texas. Titilayo is an accountant and Olugbenga is an engineer.

Photo: courtesy of Titilayo and Olugbenga Hassan]

Parker, 4, drew a cocky-portrait of  herself leading her class.

Parker [Photograph: courtesy of Megan and Eli Rubin]

In the class called Ladybug at South Jacksonville Presbyterian Preschool, students cull from a variety of roles daily. Four-twelvemonth-old Parker remembers her function as leader for the day and draws a self-portrait to certificate it. As the leader, Parker says she led her classmates at lunch and the playground.

Parker's parents are Megan and Eli Rubin. Eli is the COO of Xtraining Equipment and Once again Faster and Megan is the owner and designer of Parker & Co. Florals and Design based in Jacksonville, Florida.

[Photo: courtesy of Megan and Eli Rubin]

Jack, six, drew himself as a leader of turtles, and says a leader is someone who leads others to freedom.

Jack [Photo: courtesy of Lori Evans and William Bernstein]

When asked what he thinks leaders do, Jack, who is in the first course, says that "a leader is someone who makes sure that a place is prophylactic, similar they atomic number 82 others to … I retrieve freedom." For his cartoon, Jack drew himself and a turtle, explaining that he knows "how at that place are leaders of turtles." Jack admits that he hasn't seen these turtles but he knows that "at that place are turtle schools and turtle moms and dads," adding that they're "the aforementioned as united states but in turtles." When asked how he knows about these turtle leaders, Jack answers matter-of-factly: "I only know." When asked if he knows whatever leaders in real life, Jack says he knows many, list [Barack] Obama, Abraham Lincoln–"I wasn't alive then but I know about him"–and George Washington. Jack also names his dad equally a leader, proverb "I'm merely guessing considering I think that he's a leader." Jack adds that he thinks his teachers "might be a leader." When asked if he thinks he's a leader, Jack answers: "Of grade I am," quickly followed by "well, sometimes I am."

[Photo: courtesy of Lori Evans and William Bernstein]

Jack's parents are Lori Evans and William Bernstein. Lori is the co-founder of HeathReveal and William is a healthcare attorney. They live in New York.

Jala, 6, drew a film of her mom and of a dr..

Jala [Photo: courtesy of Jessica Stewart]

Jala, who is "half dozen and a one-half," drew a picture of her mom (top drawing) and of a physician (lesser drawing). She says her mom is a "leader of youth" and in general, "a leader so I wanted to endeavour to draw her every bit a leader."

Equally for doctors, Jala says they're leaders considering "(They) help when people are sick, maybe a tummy ache or has to accept a bank check up."

When asked if she knows whatsoever other leaders, Jala mentions Victoria who she says works with her mom. She likewise believes that she'south a leader herself  "considering sometimes at my school, when people need assistance, when they need a friend, when they really feel lone, I just ask them, 'exercise yous want to be my friend?' " Jala says that both men and women can be leaders.

[Photos: courtesy of Jessica Stewart]

Jala's mom'due south Jessica Stewart is an entrepreneur based in Georgia.

Allyson, 6, thinks leaders 'play with their friends and if somebody gets injure, they help them.'

Allyson, who is in the first course, says she drew the character in her cartoon "considering information technology looked like a leader." When asked what qualities she thinks leaders should have, Allyson said that they should be "nice," "assist people," and "talk overnice." When asked what she thinks a leader does all twenty-four hour period, Allyson said leaders "play with their friends and if somebody gets hurt, they help them." She names her teachers, friends, mom, and dad as leaders she knows. Allyson says her parents are leaders because "they help me get ready for Girls Scouts and soccer and whatever I do." She says her teachers are leaders because they help her "acquire stuff that nosotros don't know yet" and specifically lists "math and stuff to help our school, (like) cleaning up because our classroom is dirty all the time."

Benjamin and Allyson [Photo: courtesy of Jennifer and Justin Miller]

Benjamin, 9, thinks a leader is "a nice guy who wears fancy clothes with a overnice mental attitude."

Allyson'southward brother, Benjamin, explains that he doesn't know Bill–the name of the leader in his cartoon–but he was thinking of "a prissy guy who wears fancy clothes with a nice mental attitude." When asked what Bill's doing with his hands, Benjamin explains that he's a teacher getting people's attention. When asked what leaders do all day, Benjamin speculates that "they probably just aid people." He adds that leaders should be "nice," "not mean at all," and "if someone gets in problem, they're non similar, 'oh you should be doing this and that.' " Benjamin thinks his parents and teachers are leaders. He likewise thinks he'southward a leader, saying "I accept a lot of friends and one time, one friend got hurt and I went to help him upwards."

Allyson's drawing (left) and Benjamin's drawing (right) [Photos: courtesy of Jennifer and Justin Miller]

Allyson and Benjamin'south parents are Jennifer and Justin Miller. Jennifer is a speech language pathologist and Justin is a manager for General Motors. The Millers are based in Perrysburg, Ohio.

Jada, 9, drew a medico considering they 'aid save people's lives' and a lawyer because they 'make sure that people are following the police.'

Jada [Photograph: courtesy of Jeniece Stewart and Carlos Garcia. ]

Third grader Jada says she decided on a doctor because they "assist save people's lives" and a lawyer considering they "make sure that people are following the police force." She adds that her grandmother is "either a nurse or a doctor" (Jada's grandmother in a medico'southward assistant). When asked how a leader should act, Jada says that "a leader should non human action mean or have bad actions to make other people exercise what they're doing and brand other people follow along." Jada names her grandmother and mom as leaders because "my grandma is a doctor and my mom helps with a business concern that helps with special needs siblings and people similar to be hateful to them or stuff like that because they're not the same similar everybody else." Jada believes she'due south a leader and when asked why, she answered: "Because I don't do bad things and I don't follow other people who do wrong and I practice my work and I get information technology done and I get good grades."

[Photos: courtesy of Jeniece Stewart and Carlos Garcia]

Caleb, 11, thinks a leader is 'someone helping children in need.'

Caleb [Photo: courtesy of Jeniece Stewart and Carlos Garcia]

Jada'south brother, Caleb, who is in fifth form, explains that his drawing is of a leader "helping children in demand" (Caleb and Jada'southward mom is the founder of Special Needs Siblings & Network Administrator). When asked how leaders should act, Caleb answered that "a leader should not follow other people that practise wrong, and [they] should speak upwards for what's right and do what's correct." Caleb says he thinks information technology's "challenging" to be a leader, especially "when you're by the wrong people–they could really corrupt your character."

When asked if he knows whatever leaders, Caleb names his classmate Gabby, who he says always "does what'due south right," adding that "she gets good grades and when we got our progress reports, she got over a 100 [score]." Caleb also lists his "mom, dad and family" as leaders, explaining that he follows them and "they help [him] exercise what's right when it's wrong." Caleb lists famous leaders as Thurgood Marshall, because "he helped a brown girl against the Lath of Education and schools are now unsegregated" and Martin Luther King because "he ended segregation."

Caleb says he thinks information technology was hard to be a leader in the past "because they put you to work actually hard and you hardly had enough time to do what's right." When asked if he thinks he's a leader, Caleb answered "yes," explaining: "I aid my brother and sis. I do the right affair. I have proficient grades. And I don't hang with bullies."

[Photos: courtesy of Jeniece Stewart and Carlos Garcia]

Jada and Caleb'south parents are Jeniece Stewart and Carlos Garcia. Jeniece is the founder of Special Needs Siblings & Network Ambassador and Carlos is a cable technician. They are based in Lawrenceville, Georgia.

Tyler, 11, thinks a leader should always exercise the right thing–fifty-fifty when no one is watching, like Captain America.

From not hanging out with bullies to standing up to bad people to do the right affair–fifty-fifty when no one is watching–Tyler believes a leader should always footstep up to the plate. He drew Captain America because he's 1 of Tyler'southward favorite characters in the Curiosity movies, explaining that "he leads people to do the correct stuff." Tyler, who is in the fifth grade, says a leader should be helpful, caring, and dainty. He lists his mom, dad, and great-granddaddy as leaders (the latter "because he was in World War ii.")

[Photo: courtesy of Cori Abrams and David Sotsky]

Tyler's parents are Cori Abrams and David Sotsky. Cori is an orthoptist at Children's National Health Organisation and contained presenter with Younique, and David is a financial adviser. They are based in Maryland.

Nora, 12, considers herself a good leader

Nora [Photo: courtesy of Kate and Sean Visser]

When she thinks of a leader, Nora thinks of Rosie Revere, a character created by writer-illustrator duo Andrea Beaty and David Roberts, who is a serenity schoolgirl by 24-hour interval, inventor of gizmos by night. Nora's drawing also lists traits she thinks a leader should accept, which includes being organized ("I like to go piece of work done and if they tin't find something, it only takes time out … yous could be doing something important"), the power to think outside the box ("yous don't want someone who is e'er doing what everyone else is doing"), be able to bounce back from mistakes ("you lot don't want them to become kind of stopped when one pocket-size matter happens. Yous want them to continue going, fifty-fifty if your project gets difficult"), be funny ("if something does go wrong, they could express joy at information technology and not only be like 'you lot did that wrong, you have to do it over again'"), and be a book lover ("I love books. I would want my leader to like them too … just because").

Nora lists her leaders as Jane Goodall ("considering I dear animals also"), Rosie Revere, Harriet Tubman, Michelle Obama ("definitely"), Hillary Clinton, her scientific discipline instructor Dr. Rollins, and her mom ("she stands up for what she believes in and she does all the things I listed in my box [drawing]").

When asked if she considers herself a leader, Nora, who is in the 6th form, says she does, but admits that there are some things she still needs to piece of work on, like her listening skills, because "you always have all these ideas you want to share and sometimes, y'all get so overwhelmed in your ideas that you don't actually pay attending to people when they have their own ideas."

Nora'due south parents are Kate and Sean Visser. Kate is an after school programs instructor at Nora's school, Katherine Delmar Burkes Schoolhouse. Sean is a firefighter with the San Francisco Fire Department. The Vissers are based in San Francisco.