Looking back, I’ve found myself always galvanizing people towards a common goal. Stepping forward when others are sitting back. It is not because I enjoy the attention, rather I cannot ignore when my action can make things better. I would not suffer for what I can solve because the rest are not taking any action.
Over the weekend, I came across a thread that explains frameworks for simplifying decision-making. I resonate with the Man in the Arena razor as put forward:
“When faced with two paths, choose the path that puts you in the arena—choose the path with real skin in the game.”
This, though often used for people taking positions of leadership, it is more than that. It spreads across decisions about our personal lives - where we feel like, 'what would people say?' Or where we say to ourselves, 'I don’t want people to say am I the only one'.
For a while, building the audacity to step forward is a bit of a challenge. I enjoy being behind the scenes but there is a limit to it. Many problems demand creative solutions, creative partnership, and someone stretching to galvanize resources. In the last two years, I’ve learned a lot about taking action. I am in awe of the things I now have a fair knowledge of and things that I knew nothing about. I am not afraid to ask you to enlighten me or listen to unlearn many societal preconditioned norms.
According to Theodore Roosevelts in his famous speech called Citizen in the Republic:
"It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat."
This is why, to the best of my ability, I tried to be empathetic to leadership. Especially to those that did not court it. It’s easy to throw rocks from the sidelines, it’s hard to step into the arena. If you have ever had to make a public presentation in a theatre or represent a group of people in a debate, you would understand the trembling feet and heart palpitations. This is why I appreciate people who above all things step forward to give their best to serve. It’s a risk
Not long ago, I was talking to a friend who said something about how we create a growth ceiling because we are afraid to step into the arena. It is a feeling that comes from not wanting to risk all you’ve gotten for an experiment that might fail. If you have experienced a level of comfort, it's harder to want to embark on what is uncertain. Would you continue to give up and accept average because this is what is obtainable? Excuses will never be in short supplies. It is up to us to determine if we want to cap our growth because it puts us out there or we want to actually dare to achieve more.
Dear readers, would you be that friend today that will bring each and everyone's unique strength to create an advantage for your circle or will you step back because of many what-ifs?
Love this + I really needed this. Big ups R! and Ramadan Mubarak