The Power of Showing Up as a Citizen First

A Ferry Journey with Purpose

On a recent ferry journey from Newhaven in the UK to Dieppe, I facilitated an open space conference with my friend John Smith. John is a director of several companies and is quite well known in his field, having worked at director level or as a senior manager in the field of sustainability.

He had concerns about the sustainability of the ferry service that many local people love, not just in Newhaven but also in France. He began to realise that this was not merely a tactical decision about transport logistics but something far more significant. It was about the cultural connections in the region, the sustainability of those connections in terms of tourism, and their value in ways that are not always easy to measure.

The Quiet Power of Humility

What I really noticed and liked was that when we all introduced ourselves to each other, despite the many high-status jobs John had held and the directorships he continues to hold, he simply introduced himself as a local resident who uses the ferry and who was personally concerned about its future. That was the reason he had managed to bring everyone together.

Although he did not formally take on his role as a director on the day, he created influence and carried kudos from simply having a reputation as one of the good guys in the world of business—someone people actually trusted. Even those who had never met him before encountered him for the first time not as a corporate figure but as a fellow citizen. It soon became clear that he was speaking and acting from a place of authentic citizenship, informed by years of walking the talk in the companies he had worked with, as well as having experienced the more difficult side of corporate life.

Roles, Masks and Authentic Engagement

As a facilitator, I noticed that as the day unfolded almost everybody at the workshop introduced themselves in terms of their job description and professional role. That is what they made most prominent. If they were also human beings, which was lovely to see, that part of their identity came second. It might even have been considered unprofessional by their funders or employers to foreground their personal identity or passion. As a result, they played the role more formally, but in some ways, this got in the way of what was really driving their hearts.

Being Present as a Citizen, Not a Title

So I think there is a balance to be struck. Sometimes it is best to arrive in any situation simply as a human being, a citizen, a concerned person who is present for reasons that do not rely on external expectations or the authority of a formal title, whether as boss, leader, or hierarchical figure. When kudos or authority gained from past roles plays gently into the space without being used intentionally or politically, people are more likely to listen. In John’s case, they listened not only because he was a citizen but also because they intuitively sensed his humility. He was not using his roles as leverage. He was simply being a human being.