Day #74

Standing in the Cold

The first step of Social Leadership is ‘Curation’ - choosing your space. One space you are given: put into by the system. Your formal power and role. The other, you choose. What will you stand for, and what will you stand against.

This decision may be harder than it first appears: the answer of ‘i will stand for what is right’ can be confused when ‘what is right’ is a harder decision than we may imagine.

I stood in the cold wind with a group yesterday, part of the #MarchForMidwives movement, protesting the lack of investment in midwifery services in the UK. One of the Midwives there described how some Midwives had been fearful of coming, worried that they would be judged for their participation. This is an example of the price of action.

Not all of the stands we take must be dramatic: but in each and every day we must decide where we stand.

Use your sixty seconds today to ask yourself this question:

What do you stand for - and what do you stand against?

On one level, you may find this easy to answer: but then consider two other thoughts.

Firstly: do any people deliberately stand against you - and secondly - how often do your actions match your intent?

This is a big question - it is unfair of me to ask you to consider it in sixty seconds - but equally sixty seconds is better than no seconds on a Monday morning.

If you enjoy Social Leadership Daily, please share this work more widely. It’s open and all are welcome.