Back around Halloween, I went to the nightmare realm with a friend.
It was just the two of us and the guy working there recommended we join the group in front of us, as a bigger group is more fun.
The group ahead of us was 4 hysterical adolescent girls. They were jumping at the tiniest movements and their screams were piercing.
So finally it’s our turn to enter and we were led into a medium sized room.
In this room, one of the actors explains to us the story behind the whole maze. Then when her little spiel was over she instructed us to enter the completely pitch black corridor to start our scare fest.
The first girl walked up to the corridor, paused, and proceeded to have a hyper meltdown. The second girl walked up and screamed: Ahh I can’t do it! I can’t do it! Something similar happened to the third and fourth girl.
It was hilarious to watch.
As a group we were failing at the first hurdle.
I was at the back of the group and the actor leaned into me and said maybe you could be a brave young lad and go first.
I walked up to the pitch black corridor. Heard the distant screams and chain saw noises and I inched forward. Slowly but surely I got the group out of the starting room and into the maze. With each step further into the darkness, it became easier.
Thinking back I thought that this was a nice little leadership story. Not saying I’m a great leader. Just at that moment, with that group, I could do what was needed.
Furthermore, as a metaphor, this works nicely.
The leader is able to face the unknown, embrace the uncertainty and lead their followers into it. They have the ability to hold in their head that this might work and this might not work and move forward. It may be an inch at a time, it may take an eternity but still move forward.
Thomas Duggan 