I had a very interesting experience today as my doctoral cohort met with Dr. Fred Hunsaker, Utah state legislator. In our meeting, he discussed a number of leadership principles that have helped him to succeed, my favorite of which being a quotation from Margaret Mead:

Never doubt that a small group of people can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing in the world that has.

Little did he know that many of the small groups to which I belong consist of people with highly specialized interests and abilities, geographically spread over several continents.

Most striking to me was his nervous manner. Sure, ours is a formidable group, highly intimidating – and don’t get me wrong, he was far from a nervous wreck. Nevertheless, he carefully measured most of his words, as one skillfully comfortable in the political frame. Moreover, on more occasions than one, he mentioned how intimidating I was, what with Google at my fingertips and my apparent facility with technology. Ironically, the word that he continued to use was power.

Wow.

I wonder how often people like us consider ourselves to be in positions of power, simply because we are able to play with technology, learning as we go, and highly engaged merely because we love it.


Image source: Flickr user veo_

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