The Follower

During a solitary lunch one Sunday afternoon, I observed the actions of a family dining nearby. The father, a professor, his wife and his children, four boys and one girl, were contentedly finishing their meal as I sat down.

The boys, ages four to six with a set of twins, got up from the table and ascended the top of a small incline consisting of two steps. They repeatedly went to the top and jumped down, in perfect unison each time. After several jumps, the mother scolded the boys. They snickered and walked away.

The girl, perhaps age three, was observing the boys during their escapade. She climbed to the top of the steps just as her parents were leaving the table with the dishes. Completely unsupervised, the girl proceeds to jump. She falls on the first step. No tears, no attention. Instead, she stands, looks around to see if anyone saw her, presumably, and quickly massages her hind end. Then she repeats the aforementioned process for the second step.

Then the parents return and they are on their way. No one ever saw the girl; the parents were gone and the boys were busy being mischievous. Nonetheless, this three year old girl left lunch content with a smile that she had followed her brothers and succeeded where they had failed.

Of course, success is in the eye of the beholder, but being the follower does not mean you are not the leader, as this girl found out; it just means that you learn from the mistakes of the leader, follow them anyway, and become a humbled leader of your own.