The Power of the Individual

Becoming the message is better than creating the message.

You can try and persuade, you can copy-write and strategically, plan a speech.

But the great leaders of the world haven't won our hearts and minds through language. Instead, they embody the message.

And we don't hear it, but we feel it.

It's hard to describe. And we're drawn to that type of energy because we see that they've found or seen something we haven't. We follow because we seek to be transformed. So we exalt the leader.

But the leverage of the internet has shifted the dynamic of power.
Is there anything more clear in 2018 that the individual has power beyond anything we've seen before?

To speak a truth. To reach a million people with a single tweet even if you don't have a following?

Do you know you have that power now?
It's hard to let that responsibility and that opportunity, fully sink in.

Of course, it's not simply available to anyone instantly utilize.

One must embody a deep truth of sorts.
Then, speak that truth when it's primed for the culture to hear, to react.

And so, suddenly a 16-year-old with an iPhone can speak to the world, share her voice, and speak her truth for those who stay silent or placate.

Sure, there are trolls, or there are those that will laugh off a voice due to age, gender, or economic status.

The people in power today think they should have more say than you because of their status. The more money in your bank account, the more you're voice should be heard?

I don't buy it.

Which is why this bravery from these high school teens is so compelling. Because we've seen the embodiment of a message. Now it's those affected who are standing up. And it's up to us to at least listen, put ourselves in their shoes.

This isn't about agenda.I'm not claiming to have answers, but I am claiming that your voice matters as much as your neighbors, and that a precursor to change is listening, as is leadership with skin in the game.

That's what gets our attention: skin-in-the-game.

And those who lead with skin in the game, who share their voice from a genuine place, we absorb. It's almost like the best leadership comes from a form of innocence rather than dominance.

Feaux leadership seeks to confuse us. To add complexity to prove their authority.

True leadership brings simplicity to the truth.

A purity that we can feel in the message.

So it's in your power to have a voice.

To speak your truth.

But maybe, just maybe it's also worth listening to others with skin in the game. Forget the pundits. Forget the politicians.They have been given the platform, but it hasn't always been earned.

Your neighbors, classmates, service workers, local communities...

Their voices are worth our respect.

xx David