June 2010

It’s not everyone who thinks of them self as a leader. Some of us rush into the title, shouting me! I lead! I do good things, big things, things of note and importance. And then there are others who are more reticent to use the title. What’s leaderly about caring about the person on the side of the street? What’s lead-ful about thinking that everyone matters? Can you be a leader at the age of 20? And what is the leadership that we need today?

I was just at Melbourne’s first event run by the Emerging Leaders for Social Change, or ELSC. Bec was one of the three speakers. Her career as a leader started as a pathfinder, a kind of girlscout that children could join when they turned 9 ¾. You can bet she was first in line, the moment that grand day came. And her journey towards being a leader was a series of little steps, like a pathfinder collecting merit badges and skills. She learnt small things like “collaborate”, and “acknowledge that you don’t know,” and the importance of telling the stories the matter, the stories you believe in, until you turn blue in the face. These findings in turn led to big, audacious things, like when she eventually asked “What if we could stop youth homelessness just by eating?” Indeed. What if?

There were a lot of ideas about leadership being thrown around, and people asking questions, like do you lead as an individual? Or should a leader be seen as a catalyst for team efforts? Who matters anyway, a leader, or the first follower? (If you haven’t seen the video by now, it is time.)  A lot of people quoted Gandhi, saying that we should all try to “be the change we wish to see in the world.” Leadership happens by example.

Sandy Blackburn-Wright, in town to launch ELSC in Melbourne, said something important when she introduced the organisation. She said “We’re trying to emerge a different style of leadership in whatever organization we are in, in whatever family we’re from, in whatever street we’re on. As a movement this should grow freely, without border or boundaries.” So we have no answers today about the leadership Australia needs to move towards a sustainable future. But at least we’ve begun asking the right questions.