Are we all leaders?
“We are all leaders of our lives. We are choosing our paths.”
Davy De Regge
I loved that quote.
Leadership, in its purest form, isn’t about managing people. It’s about navigating ourselves through doubt, through change, through failure, through conflict and being able to cast that light on others, once we find ours.
Once upon an October evening, as Davy De Regge, Managing Partner at iconnect, spoke, the room dimmed, the soft hum of conversation faded, and the slides behind him glowed with ideas: trust, conflict, collaboration. Like in a perfect melody.
Trust, he explained, is the currency of collaboration.
Davy De Regge
“You win as a team, and you lose as a team.”
We cannot work or coexist without trust, even if the road to building it is hard. Conflict may occur, but we can use it as an opportunity, while we are searching for the same rhythm. At the end of the day, we are dancing to the same song, even if our rhythms may not synchronize perfectly.
He spoke of collaborative leadership. I immediately thought of leaders who invite challenge, who don’t hide their flaws behind authority, who make safety at the workplace a priority.
And I sat there thinking, maybe leadership isn’t about having all the answers. Perhaps it’s all about making sure people thrive when they feel safe to ask questions, to challenge ideas, to be themselves.
We lead in the way we listen, in the way we react, in the moments we choose grace, patience, over ego.
We lead every time we say, I don’t know, but let’s find out together.
What makes a leader, really?
The courage to keep their heart open. A leader is not the toughest one in the room.
Written by Camelia Pavel