Our culture has made the Wizard of Oz a story you can hardly forget. Most, however, miss the meaning. What you may forget is it starts with the town leader — Miss Gulch — coming to collect the dog who BIT her. The conflict in the movie begins when the man, Uncle Henry, wusses out. Aunt EM can’t speak the TRUTH b/c she believes that would compromise her worldview. Toto is the truth teller. He’s just a dog being, well, a dog.
So Dorothy leaves the shire, so to speak, to protect her best friend, Toto. Along the way she discovers who she really is. Her CORE keeps her on the yellow brick road and she never loses sight of her OPUS. Along the way she encounters real adversity. Toto is by her side.
The crucible doesn’t melt her; it makes her. The Wicked Witch of the West, not so much.
Toto is just ONE of her builders. She becomes the builder of the scarecrow, the tin man and the cowerdly lion. Toto runs under the radar but is the catalyst behind the whole story. Even at the end when he jumps back in the window at the part of the story that would not have happened had he not gotten lost – forcing Dorothy to rediscover the power in her CORE . . .
Do NOT miss this.
She could NOT go back to the place of “there is no place like home” if she had not deeply changed. My role is to be your Toto of sorts. I am comfortable in this role. It fits me. I believe, God, wired me for just this kinda work. I feel his presence when I bark, bite, and when I see you on your builders journey. My aim is a lot like Toto’s, you see. I am not the hero.
Y.O.U. are.
All my barking and biting is an attempt to inspire Y.O.U. to leave your current state, discover your dream state, and have the courage to walk along your yellow brick road, so to speak. Even if it is to come back to some place you thought was the problem when you’ve discovered, instead, the real problem resides in you – not your current state. Funny, huh…
So if some Miss Gulch has put you in a basket. . . follow Toto. Dare to jump out. Become who you are. Build your CORE. Author your OPUS. Follow your yellow brick road. And, inspire others to do the same.
I am comfortable being Toto. How ’bout you, Dorothy, you ready to go?
BUILT TO LEAD 