For those of us watching, it was a somewhat surreal yet remarkable moment.

The first heat of the Women’s 100 metres Sprint at the World Athletic Championships in Paris began on a predictable and familiar note. The athletes from diverse nations around the world peeled off their tracksuits to reveal their finely tuned physiques, including the now mandatory six pack, and prepared themselves in the customary way. Yet in lane 1, the athlete wearing ‘Number 1’ was doing anything but the predictable.

Wearing a baggy t-shirt and sweatpants she prepared herself as best she knew how for her first ever athletic competition. Many initially thought it was some kind of mistake. Was this a joke or maybe an over enthusiastic steward trying out the blocks for their ‘famous for five’ moment? However, as the athlete called for the help of one of the official stewards to explain to her ‘what’ the starting blocks were and ‘how’ to use them, reality began to dawn. Not only was this her first competitive race, it was also the first track she had ever seen, let alone run on. History was about to be made.

The gun went off and I am sure that most people like myself cannot remember who won the heat – all of our attention was on Lima Azimi, Afghanistan’s first ever female athlete to compete in an international competition. She came last, running in her baggy pants to set her personal best, season’s best and her country’s national record of 18.37 seconds for 100 metres in this, her first ever, 100 metres race. It was the making of a Disney classic, yet she is no fictitious Cinderella and her life is certainly no fairytale.

Up until the overthrow of the oppressive Taliban regime, Lima, like most other women in her country, lived in fear. She rarely left her parents’ house and when she did so it was with great trepidation. “It was very difficult for girls”, she said. “Sometimes I did get out but always with ‘the tent’ (the all-covering burqa worn by strict orthodox women) Even then, you faced problems if the Taliban saw you.”

Much of the commentary in the press focussed on the clothes she wore. It was of particular note to our image/fashion-obsessed culture that she said even the dour and conservative clothes she wore would still be ‘too’ risqué in her culture and she would ‘never’ wear shorts. However, there was obviously something far more profound going on that we as leaders can learn from.

Brave Lima must still have been incredibly nervous appearing in public without her burqa – allowing people other than her closest family to see her ‘real’ self. No doubt she still will have some concerns about the response back home to appearing in the way she did. Yet hers is an important step in advancing the cause of human rights – that of freedom of expression and human dignity, previously denied her by a form of religious fascism. Hopefully, this moving event will provide the impetus for others to enrich the world by revealing more of their real selves.

Those of us who work in developing and supporting leaders will note a familiar scene. We witness scores of execs hiding behind their own emotional and psychological ‘burqa’s’. These are made up of all sorts of fears, hurts, insecurities, failures and agendas - the net result of which is they rarely, if ever, reveal their true selves. Oft heard comments at off-site leadership retreats include ‘well I never knew that’ or ‘they were such a different person’. A shift in context and culture often gives leaders permission to enrich the lives of their co-workers through disclosing more of themselves and coming out from behind their self or context imposed ‘burqa’.

We wouldn’t want to compare our work context to the challenges young Lima faced, but many of us do know that it is often very hard to be our ‘true’ selves at work. It takes courage, conviction and depth of character to do such things – traits that Lima would appear to have in abundance. They are also essential components in the DNA of substantive and high performing leadership. As we make brave choices to risk and reveal, we give others permission to do the same, we lay down markers for the kind of organisation we want to lead – one that values people for who they really are rather than corporate clones.

Lima concluded her interview “It was not important to get a position, it was just important to participate. It’s important for me, for my family and for my country” – and probably for the rest of us as well. Thank you Lima.

“Permanence, perseverance and persistence, in spite of all obstacles discouragements and impossibilities - It is this, that in all things, distinguishes the strong soul from the weak.”
Thomas Carlyle

Phil Wall
CEO