cthewind's Blog

No one is permanently leader or follower; everyone is both.

We fall into traps of our own making when we indulge the fantasy that some people are “natural” or “born” leaders. This idea is a particularly damaging cultural lie that not only puts way too much pressure on “leaders” (and/or places way too much power at their disposal), it leads us to overly ignore or deprecate ourselves and others. In scenarios of either-or thinking, where people are either leaders or not, so many voices are unheard, so much genius not released, so much energy left in potential state. Also, some voices are over-heard, genius tarnished from overuse or inadequacy to all tasks, energy reduced to sputtering or utter exhaustion.

We do not live in a world of one! This is, of course, a source of many frustrations. It can be maddening to negotiate decisions and plans with other people in personal or professional circumstances. It can be appealing to have one person “take the lead” all the time because it’s faster, clearer, more efficient. All sorts of things happen within the power structures (formal and informal) we have built and the social rules we assume.

Yet, “We do not live in a world of one!” is also excellent, freeing news. We cannot know everything there is to know about the world. This is both because the world will always exceed our capacity to ask, to observe, to know, and also because humans have different ways of coming to know the world and need each other to navigate best. It is normal for people to be good at different things and to seek help from others for the things outside their genius.

Embracing limits—our own and those of others—opens space for everyone to contribute and time enough to take turns leading and following according to energy and giftedness.

You can lead, whatever your position in personal or professional structures. You can shine your light, show the way, be safety for others to risk their energies, share honestly what you know and what you don’t, speak up when someone else is better suited to the task.

Sometimes you step up, and sometime you step back.

You can follow, whatever your position in personal or professional structures. You can tune into the genius of others, trust their responses to questions, tether your energy to theirs, tell them what they’re good at, thank them for offering themselves as leaders.

Don’t you want to live in a world where everyone shines and everyone rests?