This is aptly relevant because it is a reminder that it is not always the most fancy, or the most well known, of things that can make those momentous impacts.
Magic often happens outside of the defined, outside of the borders of what is considered the official and best and most correct.
Of course, the topic of the talk is also hugely relevant and it inspires the groundswell of citizen activation in the form of a small seed that the speaker didn't even know he had planted. This speaker from TEDx Toronto refers to this little seed he unknowingly planted as a "lollipop moment".
Drew Dudley is also not a usual package to be delivering this message about leadership. He is not a big company CEO or someone who is talking about some big amazing shiny thing that he has started or created that will change the world.
His talk, entitled Everyday Leadership, is long overdue to bring perspective to the concept of what leadership can truly be beyond the hierarchical prehistoric definition.
He speaks with an infectious honesty that imparts the message so authentically that at the same time helped me effortlessly to reflect on some of my own lollipop moments, and also wonder which other lollipop moments I've unknowingly catalysed in the hearts and minds of others! And it makes me smile as I think of all the lollipop moments where people have sparked something in me without even realising it.
It is this sense of sparking connection that is the snowball behind the clunky term of "citizen activation". How do we, as individuals, become inspired to do something? Answer that for yourself, and me for myself, and we're a whole lot closer to figuring out how to start a movement and activate others.
Yes, it starts with us. It starts with us being ourselves in those lollipop moments as eluded to and coined by Drew Dudley, and it starts with us taking the chance, the risk, to hand out those lollipops, to smile at a stranger, to go the extra mile even when it seems like just a small thing that no one will ever know about, to reach out across invisible boundaries in our everyday lives and to do something good, something small, something that could even be someone else's lollipop moment.
In my beloved Cape Town, two locals have declared June to be their lollipop moment month, a chance to say thank you to all those who have added magic and connection to their journey.
Thessa Bos and Chantal Louw met through a mutual friend (who they have publicly thanked for the serendipitous introduction) and from that introduction, they then started the beautiful Fringe Arts store on Kloof Street.
The Fringe on Kloof is a collective of local crafts and beautiful products made by South Africans. And for the month of June, their window will also be the space for public declaration of thanks for your lollipop moments, so get on down and add yours.
Read more about it here (and thank you to B-Guided for bringing it to my attention): B-Guided
TEDx Talk - Drew Dudley: www.ted.com
