Let’s refresh on a few of the basics that I use. Grab whatever your beverage of choice is and take a moment with me to review. Remember, I’m self-titled–a consulting leadership historian.
First, our life is a River. Yours, mine, ours, theirs, individual, collective. Life is a River. Point A is the start. Point Z is the end. The flow of time from A to Z functions, behaves, and acts much like a River. The current flows one way, just as time flows one way–ahead. A and Z can be any points in time–birth/death; start of a job/leaving a job; start of school/end of school; move into this house or town/move out of this house or town. The list is endless. This is how I think of time working. Like a River. For a fuller exploration of The River, please look at the top bar on this website. You’ll see The River.
Second, the past and history are two different things. The past is everything that has occurred down to this second. History is a subset, a partial reconstruction of the total past. There are two key related word, one for past and one for history. Past is a semi-homonym of passed. Both sound the same and yet share a very similar symbolic meaning–as in, having now gone before. For history, the related word is already inside it–story. The past is all matter and life forms gone before. History is a story told about part of that previous state. I urge you to understand that your past and your history are different, related to be sure, but still different.
Third, a leader is a person with one or more followers. Period. Could be a million and one, could be one, could be anywhere in between. Regardless, leadership starts with one. And the one doesn’t have to be someone under the leader’s formal power and authority. Could be but doesn’t have to be. A follower can exist because of influence, persuasion, or some other connection to the leader. In a lot of cases, as I think about it, a person is both a leader and follower at the same time. We likely don’t reflect on that enough.
Three points to bear in mind as I pledge to do a better job of keeping up on my Blog and, hopefully, keeping it interesting.
