Changing the World... and Other Small Things: Part 1

The “Get-to-Know-You” Game

Who are the people we look up to in this world? When asked – as is almost inevitable in ice-breaker/get-to-know-you games – who you would have lunch with if you could lunch with anyone in the world, what kinds of people are chosen? One answer suffices for both questions: leaders. Influencers. People who have an impact on the world around us.

What do Martin Luther, Abraham Lincoln, Albert Einstein, Lester B. Pearson and Barrack Obama have in common? They all, in their own way, changed and challenged the world as they know it. Luther challenged religious practices, and so the Christian faith was revolutionized. Einstein gave us a new way to look at the world. Obama has already, and is continuing to, alter centuries of American politics. And the list of people who do the same continues ad infinatum. These are the people who are commonly chosen in that get-to-know-you game; these are all examples of great leaders and world changers.

Aren’t they amazing?

The short answer: no.
The long answer: still no, because they aren’t supermen. Because for every public figure chosen in this game, someone else will bring up a parent. Or a grandparent. Some other relative. A friend. Someone (usually) out of the public mind. Definitely not a great leader or someone who can change the world.

Or are they?

This, then, leads to two possible conclusions about my “sufficient” answer. Either a) I’m wrong and it is completely chance, the person picking the first person to come to their heads, or b) I’m right and there is something about this whole changing-the-world thing that we are missing.

Guess what: I’m not wrong.

Think about it for a moment. From the time you were young, who changed your world? Who lead you through your trials? Whose actions influenced the decisions which molded your life into what it is today? Who had the greatest impact - for good or bad – on your microcosm of a world?

Parents. Peers. Friends and family.

I am suggesting – and am personally convicted – that everyone, no matter their personality type,is a leader. I really, truly believe that. And, by extension, I also believe that everyone has the potential to change the world.

A rather challenging thought to live up to.


Part 1/ Part 2/ Part 3


Michael
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