Recently I attended a production of Rogers and Hammerstein’s Cinderella and I realized how much we can learn from the story and apply it to our leadership practices. Keep in mind that the original story is a bit different than the popular animated version, but they are similar. In both, the Prince and Cinderella fall in love and live happily ever after, however, in the version I attended, there is actually quite a sub-story that gives us food for thought. We’ll spend this week talking about it.
Lesson #1 – WE ARE OUR OWN FAIRY GODMOTHER
As most of us know, in the story Cinderella lives with her not-so-nice stepmother and stepsisters who are, well, not so nice to her. She dreams of a different life and desires to go to the ball which the Prince is throwing in order to find a bride, but her stepmother makes sure that Cinderella does not have the chance. Through a cloud of fog, the Fairy Godmother appears, having changed from her outward appearance of a crazy old beggar woman. They banter about Cinderella’s impossible dreams and the Fairy Godmother finally convinces her that while there is magic in what the Godmother can and will do, the real magic comes through Cinderella’s belief in herself and the possibilities that are before her, if she will only take courageous steps toward them. In the end, it is Cinderella herself who embraces the magic within and wins over the prince.
This serves as a terrific reminder that first, we all need someone to believe in us, and second, the real magic to live our dreams comes from within ourselves. As a leader, we can be both characters. We can guide others to their dreams, just like the Fairy Godmother did for Cinderella, and we can go after the dreams in our own hearts if we only believe in ourselves. We can be our own Fairy Godmother! To put a spiritual spin on this – God knows the potential which he created within us. He believes in us, but sometimes the thing which keep us from going after our dreams is our own lack of confidence. We must believe in ourselves and the possibilities within. God is ready to work magic in our lives, but we have to step forward in faith first.
In the next blog, we’ll discuss more of the leadership lessons from Cinderella.
Go believe in yourself and someone else today. Lead well.