Leadership is often over-glorified. Sometimes it is Embarassment to impress others.

I keep coming back to Derek Sivers’ short film about how a movement begins from time to time. I also used his short film in lectures, how to create a movement.

Without seeing the film it could be described as follows:

One person starts dancing alone.
He looks slightly ridiculous.
He does not appear to have a plan, a steering committee or a communications strategy.

Then someone joins him.

That second person changes everything.

Not because they are following blindly.
But because they make it socially safe for others to join.

This is the part many leaders miss.

Creating momentum is not about taking yourself too seriously.
It is about being visible enough to set an example — and open enough to make the first people who join feel like equals.

The moment it becomes “us”, rather than “me”, something shifts. This is taking courage of the leader and the first follower.

Others no longer need to copy the leader.
They can copy the people around them.

That is how momentum builds.

In transformations, leaders are still responsible for clarity, direction and decisions.
But they do not create movement through speeches, slides or hierarchy alone.

They create it by making the next step clear, by giving others room to lead too, and by recognising the first people willing to move.

A leader may light the spark and being a role model. Even it comes with embarassement.

But momentum begins when somebody else decides it is worth joining.