Sharingship Rather Than Leadership

Born the eldest of six I fell into leadership roles naturally. Tests have shown that a first born child when told to take three steps forward will take those three steps immediately and maybe a few extra for good measure. A middle child will hesitate before moving and move only three steps, and a youngest child might not move at all. And so be it,, it takes all kinds with no place higher or lower than another.

Leadership is often thought better than other roles. If we understand that leadership is about taking responsibility for the good of the whole, not the good of the one or leader, the shine wears off the role as the burden is assumed. We are all born followers; a real leader has to be a real follower first. She must be able to place herself in the position of any of the people she makes decisions for. From experience I tell you this is work, too much work.

I’m a lazy bone at heart. While I was able to accept a leadership role as natural in my life as a mother and woman, I felt uncomfortable thinking in larger terms knowing that everyone has the potential to lead. In fact I came to believe (with the help of a touching story book called Mutant Message from Down Under by Marlowe Morgan) that we all need to exercise our leadership muscles that we are better contributors by having an experiential understanding of the world we are sustained by. When my lazy bone and these ideas came into contact I had another perspective for leadership.

We are one man/woman parades. By opening up and sharing, playing show and tell if you like (I do), we each benefit from the experiences of the other.
As spokes on a wheel are nothing without the wheel, we are nothing without each other. Like spokes our strength is in sharing the weight of our passage.


Moving through the lessons of our life in the company of like minded individuals lessens the burdens and trebles the joys…thanks for being there.