My daughter recently ran for the student council, in 4th grade, but so did every other girl in the class … and as we know, only one person can be elected the class representative, so the competition was fierce. 4th grade girls can be mean and ruthless, especially when it comes to becoming the most popular girl in class and getting the votes needed to become the political leader.
Voting day arrived and each candidate had to read out their speech, hoping to win over the undecided voters, and then the tense moments of counting the votes.
Well, my daughter didn’t win the class council seat. I’m sure it was rigged but refused to call the school to get a re-count. It’s a bit like the pope election, where every candidate votes for himself and who dares to change the hierarchy. Everybody is the best candidate … according to themselves.
On the upside, her best friends won the vote and there were plenty of hugs ‘n kisses. BFFs suddenly becomes the disciples for the new class leader and the entourage has been born. And yes, we are only talking 4th grade!
However, it was clear that our daughter was disappointed when she arrived home. Although she was very happy for her best friend, it was not easy to swallow the taste of defeat. So, as a good parent, I gave her a strong hug and told her that she had done very well for even trying. It takes guts.
I tried to explain that it wasn’t bad at all and being on top also means that people will be looking at you to make the right decisions; and you might at times make the wrong decision and then hell breaks loose.
What she really liked was my kind words of encouragement “the person with true power is not the president nor the king, but the person who advises“. Remember the role of the consigliere in Godfather trilogy, the speech therapist in The King’s Speech or Pepper Potts influence on Iron Man.
My advice to my daughter is to stay close to her friends and help them making the right decisions. Then she becomes the trusted advisor and one day soon she will be able to take over the World.