Magic

What’s your first reaction to this statement?

The most unfair thing we can do is treat everyone the same.

My principal said it frequently. As you might imagine, he got a fair amount of pushback.

As a leader, Mike didn’t see kids as widgets. To him they were individuals, with unique gifts and needs. He did his best to know each person – not easy in a 1,000-student school – and respond accordingly.

Much easier to fall back on hard-and-fast rules equally applied in all circumstances without regard for context or need. No judgment, no responsibility, just doing my job.

It’s a risk to deal with people as individuals, where they are.

+ + +

Like a school, a bike ride would be chaos without clear systems and guidelines. People need to know where to go, what to do, and what to expect.

But leaders understand that the purpose of the journey goes deeper than bikes and miles and dollars. It’s about community and relationships. The whole point of the systems is to create space for the magic. Connection. Interaction. Transparency. Vulnerability. Friendship.

You can’t predict the magic, can’t guide or systematize or even assure it’ll happen. And you can’t do it by forcing everyone into the same box.

Helping those who need it, considering individual circumstances, requires discernment and judgment. It’s risky. Someone will say It’s not fair! And they’re right, if “fair” means treating everyone the same all the time in every situation.

I think that’s the most unfair thing we could do.

Friendship is born at that moment when one person says to another, “What! You too? I thought I was the only one.” ~ C. S. Lewis