Lessons on Leadership from the Little Things in Life: Sometimes You Can’t See the Stars, But That Doesn’t Mean They’re Not There
Life is full of examples that teach us lessons. That’s why stories and illustrations make learning so much more effective. When a story can be used to illustrate or demonstrate a valuable lesson, the story makes it much more understandable, relatable, and memorable. With that in mind, I want to take some time to do just that – share examples of circumstances and stories experienced in everyday life which illustrate leadership lessons that we can learn and apply. This is one of those examples, and it reminds us that you don’t always see the significance of your impact.
One of the items on my wife’s bucket list was to see the stars. I don’t mean the stars that you see when you step outside on your back patio and look up at the sky, maybe see the Big Dipper, the North Star, and a few of the other stars in the sky. What I mean is that she wanted to go someplace where you could stand outside at night where there are no other lights, and look up and see hundreds of thousands of stars all across the expanse of the sky. One of the places that we knew was known for that was Big Bend National Park in West Texas, so I was thrilled when we were recently able to take a trip there, so that she would have an opportunity to see the night sky (“The stars at night are big and bright, . . . deep in the heart of Texas!”).
The first two nights that we were there, we couldn’t see anything. The skies were cloudy and overcast both day and night, and as much as we wanted to see the stars, cloud cover kept it from happening. But then the third afternoon, the weather cleared and the clouds moved on. We waited until well after dark, then went outside into the dark night, looked up at the sky, and stared in awe. The expanse of stars across the heavens was absolutely incredible! We could see constellations, planets, and known stars (yes, I was using an app on my phone to help me identify those things), as well as tens of thousands of other dots of light in the sky. Amazingly, we could see the Milky Way. We couldn’t begin to capture the majesty of it in pictures, even though we tried.
One of the things that I realized, besides the awesome magnificence of the Creator of the heavens and earth, was that those same stars had been there the previous two nights; I just had not been able to see them. But just because I couldn’t see them didn’t mean that they were not there. Once the clouds had cleared, I was finally able to see what had been there all along. And that same idea is true of the work you do. You don’t always see the outcome or the impact of what you are doing, but that doesn’t mean something isn’t happening
I can clearly remember the day I received a particular phone call. I was walking my dog outside, and my cell phone rang with a number that I did not recognize, so I answered it (which I don’t normally do). When I said hello, the voice on the other end identified himself as a student I had taught 15 years earlier. He proceeded to recount for me an experience in my class that later led to a conversation I had with him, which he said had changed the trajectory of his life. We had a great conversation, and in the process, I learned that I had made an impact years earlier that I did not even know I had made.
I share this just to be an encouragement to you. If the work that you are doing is the calling that God has placed on your life, and it is work that you are doing to serve others and honor God, and if you are doing it well, you are making an impact. You may not see it in the moment. In fact, you might not see it until years down the road, if at all. I hope that somewhere, sometime, someone lets you know about the impact you have had, just like that student did in his phone call to me, but even if they don’t, that doesn’t mean it hasn’t happened.
That’s the lesson on leadership from this little thing in life, from seeing the stars come out from behind the clouds. Your life and your leadership are making a difference. You are having an influence on others. Right now, you may not know the difference you are making, but like the stars behind the clouds, just because you haven’t seen it doesn’t mean it’s not there.
