We are unconscious leaders.

Reflections based on TED talk “Leading with Lollipops” by Drew Dudley

People do not generally consider themselves leaders, even if they are, because they are uncomfortable with the idea of something monumental and unattainable.

We celebrate when we do something “difficult” or “extraordinary” but we devaluate things that we do everyday, things, which might change people’s lives.

The biggest impact we might have had on someone is a moment we probably do not remember because we considered it “irrelevant”.

Drew Dudley in his TED talk, encourages us to think about these moments in which we change someone’s lives by doing something as simple as giving someone a lollipop.

Being a teacher I have experienced many "Lollipop moments" myself, many of them, as Drew Dudley points out belong to a pool of moments I do not remember, but I know they are there. 

One I do remember happened during my first full-time teaching position at the International Community School in London. It did not happened during my regular lessons, but during one of the many cultural trips I organised. It changed my life and the life of many of my students, some of them now married and with kids, but still in touch with me. 

I strongly encourage teachers to create situations such as cultural trips, outdoor classroom or just a completely different scenario to the regular one as "Lollypop moments" often happen then.

“It is our light and not our darkness that frightens us”. Drew Dudley.