Just How Is Your Bed Shaped?

Pause For Thought with Kiera Phyo, youth director at an international development charity

Last November I watched the American presidential race with great interest, who would be the next leader of the Free World? It’s the ultimate gig: world stage, big platform and millions of fans. But not all leaders require this kind of razzmatazz.

In an article on leadership, Author, Brian McLaren commented on one of my favourite fictional characters, Dorothy from the Wizard of Oz.

She’s the unlikely leader, no $2Billion dollar leadership campaign required, no previous experience, and no enthralling speech: simply a young woman on a journey. Dorothy finds three characters and helps them to their destination, not by telling them where to go, but by listening, encouraging and walking alongside them. She helps the lion with his roar, the tin man find his heart and the scarecrow discover his brain.

A couple of thousand years ago my truly favourite and not so fictional, unlikely leader entered the scene. He wasn’t born into greatness, he did not look extraordinary and his entourage was entirely made up of our everyday scarecrows, tin men and cowardly lions. Jesus hung out with the true misfits of society and served the poor. He spent more time amongst the outcast than he did preaching from a platform.

When I think about leadership, it’s easy to think about the giants of our time, only to pale in comparison with their achievements. However a child’s story and a historic hero tell me something different... Challenging my ‘me-first’ attitude and taking time to listen to others - especially those who at first glance I would rather avoid, are ways in which I can also become an ‘unlikely leader.’