Leadership

After the Nobel Prizes were handed out the other day, I caught a review of the Peace Prize ceremony in which Malala Yousafzai accepted her award.  She was, of course, the Pakistani girl who was shot point blank in the forehead by a Taliban soldier for the crime of advocating for education for women and girls.  A real menace to society, this girl.

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Her speech gave me chills, as I listened on WHYY...she's an amazing young woman.  What chilled me in a very different way was when I watched the video (below) the indifference of the old men in the room "listening" to her.  To be so jaded as to check your phone during this hero's speech is stunning.  You really can't trust anyone over 30, can you?

But, that's life with bureaucrats...it'll always be the Malala's, the Rosa Parks', and Mother Teresa's who change things.  Regular folks who have the guts and the (mis)fortune to be granted (or survive to) a platform from which they may speak truth to power, and their courage and ideals be moved forward from the darkness of oppression and the status quo.

Malala is a reminder that the purest form of leadership is humbly seeking the manifestation of an ideal, pursuing it whether in the limelight or not, and letting nothing turn attention from the ideal.  She'll chase this simple (but paradigm-shifting) goal her whole life, whether anyone follows her or not - and that's what makes her so powerful.  The strength of that conviction, the selflessness of the ideal and the doggedness she displays make her a source of optimism for her supporters and perhaps most importantly, a consistent and reliable point of reference.

But watch, and let her prove the point herself: