Bill Strickland: the humanitarian preaching the business of social change. Little did I know, the “business of social change” literally meant business – commercializing work meant for service.
I read the description, “entrepreneur and philanthropist,” and I expected to hear a tale such as that of Guy Laliberté – the theatre philanthropist and founder of Cirque du Soleil; my inspiration for all that I do in theatre and leadership. I expected to hear a story of human service, humility and caring leadership. I wanted to hear a story of strengths and weaknesses, of convictions and uncertainties, and joy of helping others.
Instead, I heard a sales pitch for a school that would boost a leader’s ego. I heard an arrogant boasting of success after success after success. I heard the details of grandiose network of fame and fortune. I heard everything but the altruistic encouragement that I was searching for.
Bill Strickland gave an hour long slide show presentation about his accomplishments, the school he built, and how his idea for the school was spreading. He gave a presentation on how all of the funding for is project was given to him seemingly under the premise that his idea was so inherently great. When asked if he had encountered resistance on his journey and how he’d handled it, he answered that of course he’d encounter resistance, but it didn’t matter because he’d already built his school and it was already a success. I almost couldn’t bear listening to him.
It is an incredible thing to have confidence and strength in your convictions. But to completely disregard all struggles, conflicts and learning opportunities is an error. I discussed in an earlier entry that leadership is not the result of freely-given success. I discussed that leadership is something that is discovered through deep internal and external struggle and growth. Although Bill Strickland’s story was inspiring on the surface, it was empty underneath. It was a shell of flashy, wow-factor technique devoid of any meaningful growth or leadership development.
I could continue – I could rant for a while about my disappointment with Bill Strickland’s presentation. But even I know criticism is wasted if you don’t learn anything from it.
It is often said that the flaws you see in other people are often the same flaws that you see in yourself. What I have been struggling with most recently is my ability to capitalize on my strengths and gain the confidence I need to be a leader while balancing that with the humility needed to connect with my followers.
Although I know not all leadership is meant to be recognized, I also know that I still feel that I need the attention. I love my job as a stage manager and I take joy in my work as I support and encourage “from the sidelines,” as I discussed in my reflections on Laurie Rospond, but I’ve also come to realize that I still feel defined by recognition. I have this need for people to know how successful I am so that I can feel empowered – but when my achievements are called to attention, I struggle to accept the compliments. Recently, I’ve begun to accuse myself of feigning humility. I’ve begun to notice that it is a habit. But I know what I need to do.
My experiences with the fellows and the questions I’ve been discovering have been extremely humbling, and now I know why. I need to rediscover humility. From my reflections on Bill Strickland’s lecture, I’ve realized that when I can embrace the humility necessary for leadership, I can then begin to rebuild my confidence in my abilities.
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