Top 5 Things I Learned On My Summer Vacation

#5: The power of generosity.

When I saw “Inception” last week, the theatre was playing Broadway show tunes before the movie started. They played two songs from the musical WICKED, and I was reminded of what a powerful experience I had seeing the musical for the first time.

WICKED tells the story of the friendship between the “Wicked” witch, Elphaba, and the “Good” witch, Galinda, and is supposedly a “prequel” to the Wizard of Oz.

My favorite character in WICKED was Elphaba. The program synopsis describes her character as “smart, fiery and misunderstood”. I know a few people like that.

Full disclosure: The musical is really all about Elphaba as the main character; she has more lines, more key scenes, more time alone on stage, more music to sing, and she gets the guy in the end (sorry if that’s a spoiler). Her character also undergoes the most development and subsequent growth and change.

And yet, the true wonder of the show for me was not the performance itself, but another kind of plot that transcended the mechanics of what was going on onstage.

In the performance I attended, the second understudy played the role of Galinda.

Unfortunately, her first appearance onstage did not exactly inspire confidence. Galinda sings the opening song of the show, and it’s a difficult one to sing. I think it covers three or four octaves. Based on that first number, I assumed her performance throughout the show would continue to be sub-par. I was wrong.

I’d underestimated the power of generosity as an element of self-leadership.

Elphaba entered about 20 minutes into the performance, and almost as soon as she hit the stage, in all kinds of tiny yet symbolic ways, it was as if the (very professional and successful) actor playing Elphaba extended a hand to the (new and nervous) actor playing Galinda, and to lift her up to her own significant level.

For example, Elphaba waited for Galinda on song cues. She adjusted her staging to fit the newer and therefore less rehearsed Galinda’s. She matched Galinda’s pacing on the duets and constantly adjusted herself to Galinda’s pauses and timing. In almost every possible way, Elphaba was entirely attentive to Galinda’s needs and choices, and in so doing made (the actor playing) Galinda’s success more important than her own.

If I hadn’t seen it myself, I think I would have wondered if that was a wise choice. What if the quality of the show had been compromised, causing the entire performance to be a little off-kilter? That would have seemed to me like quite a risk to take. After all, the less-experienced, less-qualified Galinda could have become uncomfortable and distracted with all the “extra” attention, thereby accomplishing exactly the opposite of what the actor playing Elphaba intended. With so many factors involved I think it would have seemed impossible to predict, let alone influence, the flow of this massive production.

And yet, what I witnessed was no more or less remarkable than one generous individual sharing power with another.

Because the actor playing Elphaba was secure in herself and her own talents and competence, she was able to give careful consideration to another and to offer her strengths where they were most needed. She had poise and confidence to share, and she offered it. She put Galinda before herself.

It was simply one of the most stunning displays of selflessness that I have ever seen, and it was all the more remarkable because of how unexpected it was in that context.

This decision took effect in real time, as we the audience watched. And, throughout the course of the show, Galinda literally improved before our eyes. She grew increasingly attuned to the other actors, she stepped up when she had a more significant scene, and she became less self-conscious overall as time went on. The quality of her performance consistently increased throughout the show until eventually we accepted her as, if not the true Galinda, a very adequate representation.

At the same time, Elphaba’s character led the entire performance with gripping vulnerability and passion. She, too, grew only stronger throughout the show. In fact, during a duet near the end of the show that was actually about Elphaba and Galinda’s friendship, the actor playing Elphaba was crying real tears (according to my friend who was sitting in the fourth row).

And at the curtain call, when Galinda and Elphaba walked out together holding hands, Elphaba swung her hand forward so that Galinda could step forward and receive her own applause, and then Elphaba kissed Galinda’s hand and lifted both their hands high, clasped together.

That image just about overwhelmed me, as I felt the impact of the tremendous honor that one woman had shown another that day.

I won’t soon forget the feeling of perching on my red velvet seat in the mezzanine, the crowded theater dimly lit with green lights and dry ice, goose bumps rising on my arms crossed over the coat in my lap, filled with the growing certainty that something mysterious and nearly sacred was taking place around me.

The way Elphaba promoted Galinda challenged me to a vision of generous leadership that I had never imagined before. Elphaba wasn’t about her solos, her lighting, her effect, her performance. She was about giving the audience an experience that transcended her own role. The star of the show willingly submitted herself to the larger storyline.

From now on, when I think about people who exercise their influence for good and who make sacrifices for the benefit of the whole, individuals who bring everything to the task and hold nothing back, those who deal in hope and call others to a task bigger than themselves– I will think of Elphaba. As far as I’m concerned, there was no better choice than to elevate Galinda the way she did; no more responsible stewardship of her power than such an intentional endorsement of her co-star.

I walked out of the theater that day committed to becoming more like the actor who played Elphaba, and ultimately more like myself at my best. I want to be one who gives generously from my strengths. Who is not territorial or defensive or self-focused, but reaches out in love and lifts others up, and in so doing, raises the level of everyone’s “performance” to rise above previous expectations. Who spends herself giving others an experience that connects them with the higher virtues and callings of our souls.

Thank you for the inspiration, Elphaba.

Lead Your Life.