I always imagined our great Canadian leaders as almost super-human. People who filled a room with their presence, who spoke in commanding voices, sharing their inspiring thoughts and perceptive insights on the sectors they dominated. People who would be intimidating to approach but whom you’d be flattered to be noticed by. People who were surrounded by an aura of power, accomplishment and influence.
What I discovered, during my first working conference, was that the real life leaders I met were far more inspiring.
The Action Canada advisors and guests are all very accomplished people in their fields – something you only found out if they were introduced by another or you read their biographies. They did not fill the room with their presence, because they allowed space for others. The seminars in which we learnt about the importance of dialogue and the power of the question were immediately reinforced when I shared a meal with a former High Commissioner to the United Kingdom or chatted with a public broadcasting executive or took a bus ride with someone who’d climbed to the top of the Canadian public service. They were curious to hear different points of view and life experiences. They listened as intently to us as if we were ministers or fellow ambassadors. They drew us in, rather than putting themselves forward.
In these interactions, I realised that these real, confident yet humble, curious, empathetic, intelligent, accomplished leaders were who I aspired to be, rather than the comic book leaders I’d imagined.
