Good morning from a sunny Vancouver! And a wonderful day it is! I had a great Saturday evening with a friend, going to see the film, Les Miserables. I knew the story from reading Victor Hugo’s novel, (or it may have been the Classic’s Illustrated comic book version if the truth be known!). And like so many others, I had seen the opera upon which the film was based. And, it was so powerful to go into the faces and characters of the people in the story as opposed to sitting in the 2nd balcony just listening to the music!

I  came away quite reflective. And over the past day or so, I’ve been thinking a lot about the leadership implications inherent in the story. First and foremost, the big question for Jean Valjean is “who am I?” And of course, that is the question for all of us. Secondly, Valjean makes his choices from then on, not only to “do good”, but to work towards forgiveness and away from revenge. Our work as leaders is in large part about creating space for other people to shine, and to grow. Getting caught up in the past, where revenge lives, is often a fatal flaw for leaders. And third, the amazing scenes with Eponine, choosing to protect Cossette (who she knows is her rival for Marius’ heart) and her father from her own father’s plans for robbery, and then sacrificing her own life to save Marius. We are reminded here that there are issues and meanings that are much, much larger than our own egos.  And so it is with leadership. Leadership is about a journey to a higher good, not how good you or I look getting there.

May this week find some answers for us all to the question, ‘who am I?’ and space for the journey.