There is No Leader Who is Not a Bridge
In an earlier Friday Briefing a passing reference was made to Brân the Blessed, also called Bendigeidfran, the Giant King. As told in the Second Branch of the Mabinogi (http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/history/sites/themes/society/myths_mabinogion.shtml) , the epics which predated the Arthurian legends, Brân led his troops in a campaign of vengeance against a king who had married but abused Brân’s twin sister, Brânwen.
The enemy fled across a wide river and burned all the bridges behind them. Brân, the giant, sized up the situation and lay himself across the waters so that his soldiers could cross over his body. As he did so, he cried out, “A fo ben bid bont”. The Middle Welsh text has been variously translated as “he who would be a leader, let him be a bridge”, “to be a leader, be a bridge”, “there is no leader who is not a bridge”, or “if you would lead, you must be a bridge”.
No matter which translation you prefer, the message is the same: you can’t be a leader unless you are prepared to act as a bridge for your followers, and it is exactly here where the principles of communication and leadership perfectly intersect.
As all effective communicators know, it is your job to create a bridge from where your listeners were yesterday to where you want them to be tomorrow, from what they already knew to what they need to know, and from Idea A to Idea B. The most powerful communicators make themselves vulnerable and use their own stories and personae to build such bridges.
The leader’s role is exactly the same. To move your people into the Promised Land, you must spend your own capital and act as the conduit for them. It is by the power of your example, sacrifice and vision that they will make their way. It will cost you. There is no leader who is not a bridge.