We all know the simple rule of a teeter totter. If you go up, someone else goes down. If you are lower, someone else is elevated higher.

I heard my good friend Shane Claiborne mention this idea/concept as it relates to leadership last week at a small gathering, and it struck me that this is such a great illustration of what happens many times in our own leadership.

When we are high on the teeter totter, when we are elevated, and on the top of the mountain, and high up the ladder, someone else is at the bottom.

When we are lower, on the ground, at the bottom, someone else is elevated. When we are at the bottom, someone else is higher.

The simple rule of a teeter totter is this- you can't stay at the top and be the "high horse" all the time. You have to be lowered for someone else to be higher. One doesn't work without the other.

Sometimes as leaders we think that being at the top means that others around us should stay at the bottom. But many times for others to get elevated, we must be lowered. Teeter Totter leadership requires us to be equally high as we are low.

Thanks Shane for this simple reminder!!