Have you ever noticed that if you put art supplies in front of kids, they’ll make art? They rarely, if ever, stop to wonder whether or not they can, or whether or not they consider themselves an “artist,” and by not doubting their artistry, they are able to live much more creatively.
On the other hand, if you set most adults down in front of a pile of art supplies, which many of you have experienced me doing, you won’t usually get the same result. Instead, adults will leave the crayons untouched, waiting for instructions, claiming “I’m not an artist.” Heck, I used to say it myself, until one day my daughter showed me differently. She looked at the way I stacked the drying dishes after washing them and called it “a work of art,” calling the rest of the family in to point out the symmetry and order. Who knew!? I’m an artist – with dishes. Where I saw an ordinary task, she saw beauty. On homemade pizza and movie nights the family has taken to calling me a ‘Pizza Artist’ and my daughter ‘the Salad Artist’ for the presentation and appearance of our respective contributions.
Art shows itself in so many ways, and adults are in just as many ways afraid of it – the same goes for leadership. You are a leader in exactly the same way that a child knows they are an artist – not because they are told so, but because the idea that they aren’t hasn’t yet entered their mind. Being a leader doesn’t mean being a CEO, just as being an artist doesn’t mean selling paintings at an art gallery. Some create with paints, others clay, and some of us pizza or dishes. Leadership is equally as varied and present in every area of our lives. If we can intentionally step outside of the box that is someone else’s idea of what leadership is, we’d realize that like artists, we are all leaders.
