Some time ago I heard Rupert Goold talk about Decade, his collection of 19 playlets about the decade following 9/11. He remarked how striking it was to him that people could remember what they were doing when they heard about 9/11, and how much they wanted to tell that to others. He used the phrase, ‘…the need to narrate themselves into the story…’
This struck me as an amazing metaphor for leadership – what it involves, requires, yields – and how you turn yourself into a follower.
He went on further to speak about wanting to see ourselves in relation to iconic events – like 9/11 or Diana’s death, for example. And the process of narrating oneself into the story somehow compresses the event, or at least one’s experience of it.
When I am involved in a process like this, I am
- having a new experience
- renewing something about myself
- providing a basis for joining in with others
- making sense of experience, especially tragedy, experience of loss
- making sense of myself to myself
Slingshot