Years ago, I watched a video about how movements begin. It showed a man dancing wildly at the Gorge Amphitheater near Vantage, WA.
The video highlights the power of the first followers. I call them the second and third leaders. If the man dancing with abandon is alone, he’s just a loner. But when the second and third people join him, they create space for others to follow.
Here in the Pacific Northwest, we excel at individual effort. We’re a caring, entrepreneurial, and courageous region.
But we often struggle to recognize the importance of following one another and working together.
Right now, we’re facing the need for what I call the Great Connecting. It’s time to move beyond loneliness, isolation, and segregation, and to be ourselves with others—to see our groups interact and partner.
To make this happen, we all need to learn the lessons of the second and third leaders, so we can dance together—even if we don’t dance quite like that first person.
Here is the video: