Permission To Be A Leader

Sometimes I allow my mind to freely wander. Like a wild animal running in the wind till whenever it decides to stop on a single thought.

Interestingly, the thought I stumbled upon was around the year 2017. I was in Grade 12, final year of high school. To be more specific I had two concurrent thoughts, or rather events which linked to one another. The first was in my Business Studies class, where we’re learning about leadership and all the various leadership styles. The teacher, a brilliant man, opens the lesson by asking a question, “Who are leaders that you know in your life, that you look up to or inspire you?” As a class, we named just about anyone and everyone we could think of. I remember asking, “What about you? Who inspires you, sir?” It’s the response that hooked my heart. It did not matter what came after that, because what he said was to me, at the time, just brilliant. The response:

Me (referring to himself). I am a leader …

Wilson Maphoso

His point was that if we don’t see ourselves as leaders, how can we expect others to see us as leaders. Yes, we have all these great people we know, but what about ourselves as aspiring leaders.

I was 18 years old (maybe still 17) and that just made sense. Best thing a teacher could tell me.

Leading to the second thought, in the same year, I had applied for the Jakes Gerwel Fellowship and I made it to the Selection Camp round. At that point, I didn’t even know what type of teacher I would want to be, let alone the subject. Everyone around me was so sure of themselves, but in my head, I was a lost child. Anyways, we had one assessment that I thoroughly enjoyed. The task was to present a 10min lesson to a “class.” Ironically, the lesson had to be about leadership.

So, I also had Dramatic Arts as a subject. I basically used my skills to combine 2 or 3 teachers that I could think of for that task, which was fun. I don’t think he knows, but I brought that Business Studies lesson to life from my point of view. It turns out that even that class (which actually included camp assessors and some peers) named every leader but not themselves. I realised, truly, in that moment that I want to be a teacher who changes people’s minds about themselves, like my view of me was changed.

Fast forward to today. I’m thinking I didn’t ask for it, but my Business Studies teacher gave me permission to see and recognise myself as a leader amongst leaders at any point in my life. We need to self-validate before seeking validation from others. Of course, imposter syndrome is real, hence I usually think it is nice to still be validated externally. That 18 year old girl, back in 2017, was a leader; I didn’t compare to Oprah, but I had the prefect, school leadership, badge for my own context and space.

That was a great lesson, it subsequently lead to me onboarding as a JGF Candidate Fellow, now full status Fellow. I am a teacher, trying to change minds and lives. And a few more titles in between listed on my LinkedIn Profile. I am the leader my teacher gave me permission to be. And I hope you see yourself in the highest regard as we usually see world/well-known leaders.

Thank you for taking a trip down memory lane with me. #BeATeacher