Leadership is What You Make of it

It doesn't matter what the ropes are made of - it's what we make of the ropes that matters.

I’ve just returned from another unforgettable summer with the National Student Leadership Conference (NSLC). This was my 12th year facilitating workshops, and somehow, every year feels like the best one yet.

This summer I worked with 992 student leaders and over 50 team members. I facilitated 121 workshops and had dozens of life-changing conversations.

(If you’re ever in need of a dose of hope for the future, spend some time with hundreds of teenagers who are choosing to show up, speak up, and step up. It’ll reset your sense of what’s possible.)

As a leadership facilitator I get to open each 9- or 12-day program with a keynote during the Opening Ceremony. I always start with a magic trick (obviously). 

One of my favourites involves three ropes that magically change size, switch places, and link together in seemingly impossible ways.

At the end of the trick, I give the ropes away as souvenirs. And I say something that always gets a groan or a giggle:

“It doesn’t really matter what the ropes are made of…It’s what we make of the ropes that matters.”

Yeah, it’s a bit cheesy. But it’s also completely true.

There’s nothing special about the ropes themselves. The magic isn’t in the props. The magic is in the story we tell ourselves about what we see. It’s not what the ropes are made of, it’s what we make of the ropes that matters. We are the meaning makers. 

This has always struck me as a powerful lesson for leadership. 

We can’t control everything that’s handed to us. The people we lead. The challenges we face. The timing, the circumstances, the conditions.

But we always have a choice: What are we going to make of the ropes?

A student can come to NSLC and be given the opportunity of a lifetime, but the ones who get the most out of it are the ones who make the most of it. The ones who show up fully. The ones who take risks, cheer for others, offer help, ask questions, and challenge themselves to grow.

Making the most is all about giving:

• Giving yourself to the process, even when it feels uncomfortable.

• Giving your attention and encouragement to others who are stepping into something brave.

• And giving to yourself by choosing habits, mindsets, and environments that help you become the next version of yourself.

  
  

We don't get to choose all the circumstances we lead in. We don't always get the ideal team, the perfect timing, or the clearest path forward.

But we do get to choose where we’ll give our attention, our energy, our time and other resources. 

We get to choose what we make of the ropes. And that’s where the magic happens.