When a stand up comic recently spoke about the art of improvisation with a team of actors on stage, he outlined three basic rules for everyone on stage to follow. Of course he had in mind the success of the scene with the audience. Basically each actor on stage had to do one of three things: Rule #1 – Lead
Rule #2 – Support (the leader); or,
Rule #3 – Get out of the way
I think this is a great model for leadership among a group of people working together for a common purpose. Because in community successful leadership is not simplistically about one and only one person (the Leader!) for the whole enterprise to work. It’s ultimately about a group of people making it work together. So, take the initiative. And when you do, count on others to support you in the endeavor. And if they can’t, they will for the time being recede benignly into the background. A different scene may call upon a changed cast, with a new lead, a reshuffled cast of supporters and others who will positively stand quietly at the perimeter.