John Williams
Leadership Cameo -- The Essence of Leadership
Another day in the classroom, a prison for Thomas, of boredom, punishment and anguish. Forty boys and girls in third grade, with a teacher who taught to a strict routine, and with a regime of fear.
For Thomas the classes were a kind of hell, his mind raced ahead of the teacher, the pace was far too slow for his active mind. But there was no way out, the teacher set the pace, and the pupils sat at their desks, unable to move, or do anything other than follow the lesson.
This day was particularly bad for Thomas. The teacher had invited him to the front of the class to recite a poem, which he had learned while the other pupils completed a lesson which Thomas had finished ahead of everyone else. This was the only concession made by the teacher, he could read poetry when he had completed his exercises.
After reciting the poem, Thomas was thanked by the teacher and returned to his desk. Unfortunately, the boy who sat next to Thomas was particularly spiteful, and unseen by Thomas was holding a pencil upright in his clenched fist on Thomas' seat. As Thomas sat down the pencil hit right on his coccyx bone. The pain was excruciating, it went right through his body, he felt the urge to scream, but the fear of the teacher made him suppress this scream. He rebounded from the pencil, looked at the boy next to him, and saw a sinister sneer, a look of hate and envy.
Thomas sat down again quickly before anyone noticed, but the pain remained, he could hardly bear it. There was no escape, where to go? Where to reach out for help? For care? Pain in his body, fear of the teacher, a spiteful boy next to him. Thomas began to cry, he couldn't hold it back, as much as he tried. The girl sitting in front of him heard his soft crying and turned around. She just looked at him, saying nothing, and then put up her hand for the teacher's attention.
"Yes, Mary, what do you want?" asked the teacher.
"Thomas is crying mam", she said.
"Crying? what's the matter with you Thomas?, come out the front" said the teacher.
Thomas was distraught, he always was a problem for this teacher. No matter what he did, he was only a problem. He went to the front of the class, all eyes now on him, "What's the matter?" the teacher demanded. He couldn't talk, the shock in his body seemed to gag him, to choke his voice, so the teacher angrily told him to stand with his face to the corner of the room. Now on top of everything, shame! He was being shamed for being a nuisance, for needing special attention, for being brutalised, for being unable to speak.
But now another pupil took a courageous step. The boy sitting alongside Thomas had seen what had happened. He put up his hand.
"Yes, James" the teacher asked.
"Mam, that boy stuck a pencil into Thomas" pointing at Steven.
"Come up the front Steven with the pencil" said the teacher.
Steven walked to the front with the weapon and gave it to the teacher. "But this pencil is blunt " said the teacher, "Why would it make Thomas cry?"
James then explained to the teacher how Steven had held the pencil upright on the seat as Thomas sat down. The teacher was horrified, she took her cane from your desk drawer, and caned Steven in front of the class. Thomas was then called from the corner of the room, and asked why he hadn't spoken up. Why had he remained silent? He couldn't explain, but he knew in his heart the reasons why. In an environment of fear, expression is suppressed, you do as you are told, you try not to become a nuisance to the teacher. You learn to hold your pain, not only the pain of a pencil used as a weapon to the tip of your coccyx bone, but the pain of mental boredom, of emotional barrenness, and spiritual emptiness.
A barren classroom, devoid of stimulation, no physical movement, no talking except when asked, enough to drive any bright and energetic child crazy. Certainly enough to teach any child to hide their pain.
Thomas didn't answer the teacher, there was no suitable answer. The teacher told him to sit down, and then moved another child to sit next to him. The rest of the day was a blur to Thomas, he could only wait for the schoolday to end, and for release from this prison. At last, the bell rang, and the class was dismissed.
Thomas walked out into the asphalt playground, no trees, no grass, only some patches of dirt. He walked slowly home, it took him about thirty minutes, and as he walked his spirit lifted. His home was at the end of a dirt road, a working class suburb in Melbourne. Across from his home was a small farm house surrounded by a grove of pine trees. These trees were very high, once a wind break for a farm, before the suburbs of Melbourne moved into the farmlands.
It was in these trees that Thomas refreshed his soul, and felt his spirit come alive again. Every day back to the prison of school, every afternoon return to the freedom of the trees.
He could just reach the lower branches of the trees to pull himself up into the tree. The trees were so close together, that the branches overlapped. Thomas, small and light, could move from tree to tree, by walking out along a limb, and crossing over to a limb of an adjacent tree.
He would move throughout the trees, carefully measuring the bend of the branches as he moved out from the tree trunk. In this way he could move within the enclosed world of the trees from one end of the grove to the other end.
It was his world, all alone, a real fantasy world. There was a sense of achievement, of taking risks, sometimes falling, and catching hold of a branch as he fell. Learning the strength of a branch, and sometimes the wonderful discovery of a bird's nest.
Today, a nest, high up in a tree, with two blue and black speckled eggs! Thomas looked around for a bird, but there was none. He felt tempted to pick up the eggs, but he left them untouched, and gazed at them in wonder. His discovery was enough. No one else knew they were there, this was his secret.
He moved away from the nest, but now felt emboldened to climb to the very top of the tree. As he climbed, the branches became thinner, and bent further under his weight. He wanted to get high enough to see outside the grove. He moved carefully, a little afraid that the branch would break and he would fall. He was quite small for an eight year old, and this was working to his advantage.
As he climbed, he realised he was climbing the tallest tree, he moved above the tops of the surrounding trees, and he now stood precariously close to the top of this tree, on an ever so thin branch. This was high enough. He could see the surrounding fields, and creek. He could see his home, the nearby railway line. The layout of the land was clear to him, he was fascinated.
Thomas felt a sense of joy, being here at the top of this tree. It was precarious, but he could see things in a way that no one else had. It was exciting, it was his own discovery.
Thomas had reconnected to his soul. He climbed down from the tree, all the way to the ground, said goodnight to the trees and walked home.
The hurt of the classroom was healed. The sterility of school had been replaced by the flow of life through his soul. The smell of the pine trees, the touch of branches, the connection between his body and the trees, the exhilaration of discovery of a bird's nest, the challenge and excitement of reaching the top of the tallest tree. All of his senses had been tested and he felt alive.
Reflection on Thomas' story
Many children have childhood experiences much worse than Thomas, and most don't have the blessing of a playground of pine trees to escape and renew.
However, children are wonderfully resourceful and can find joy and fun in things and situations which adults can't. The tragedy of childhood and adulthood is that the wonder and mystery of life gets suffocated.
Leaders are adults who retain, in a mature way, this sense of wonder about the mystery of life. Leaders are people who love life.
Life is not preprogrammed so that we can work out scientifically, or in any other way, what the program is, and then attempt to control life to fit the program. Situations, like Thomas' rigidly controlled classroom are a denial of life. These highly controlled environments, stifle, suffocate, destroy the wonder of life.
All schools, organisations, communities, societies need institutions, structures, and order. But freedom for the individual to express their giftedness within this order is essential. A rich life for the individual and the community is created within a societal order which allows each and every person the opportunity to discover, express, and utilise their gifts.
Any governmental system, whether it be, capitalism, economic rationalism, communism, fascism, which treats people as units of production inevitably robs its society of the common wealth of its people.
Thomas' class is typical of the environment in many organisations, communities, and societies. It was oppressive and fearful. He could only do what the teacher allowed. If he was given any favour at all, another child became envious and revengeful. Justice was only achieved after a long, painful, and shameful process.
The experience of Thomas as a child is the same as the experience of most people in the world. But Thomas had the opportunity to escape from the oppressive world of his classsroom, and renew his soul amongst the trees. It was amongst the trees that his growth as a future leader took place.
A love of adventure, joy in discovery, a willingness to take the risk of going out on a limb in order to move on, and of climbing to the tree top to catch a glimpse of the big view. The innate understanding that he needed to heal his soul of the pain, injustice, and shame of the classroom, and rediscover himself and his enjoyment of life within nature, is the reason for Thomas' growth into manhood with a sense of purpose and hope in life.
All adults who would be leaders have to retain their childlikeness. Our souls wither and die if we become part of the system, adults going through the motions of life, survivors within a system of injustice, inequity, oppression and control. We must have the ability to escape, to get back to the freedom of being a child, fully alive to the experience of life.
Leaders are people who have a daily practice of renewal, and retain their love of life, and a sense of adventure. They are people who can retain their dignity, and integrity in the stressful situations of life, find a refuge for reflection and renewal, and go on with a strong sense of purpose.
People who retain their trust in life, are the people who eventually receive all the blessings of life, and joy in the mystery of life.
The challenge for leaders is to build teams, organisations, communities, societies and nations which provide people with the opportunity to learn, discover, accept challenges, and develop their gifts.
The personal challenge for leaders is to retain their own childlikeness, a sense of adventure, a willingness to risk, joy in discovery and achievement, and a sensitivity and appreciation of all that life has to offer.
The call of our time is for leaders, and all people to rediscover, to reclaim, the spirit of the child.
John Williams October 1999