June 9, 2025

From Cub to King: The Circle of Leadership in The Lion King

From Cub to King: The Circle of Leadership in The Lion King

Send us a text We explore leadership lessons from Disney's The Lion King, examining how this iconic film portrays the journey from youth to mature leadership through Simba's story. • The Circle of Life establishes leadership as a circle, not a ladder – emphasizing contribution over position • Young Simba focuses on benefits of kingship without understanding responsibilities, similar to how young leaders approach new positions • Confidence without competence leads to poor decisions, as shown ...

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Send us a text

We explore leadership lessons from Disney's The Lion King, examining how this iconic film portrays the journey from youth to mature leadership through Simba's story.

• The Circle of Life establishes leadership as a circle, not a ladder – emphasizing contribution over position
• Young Simba focuses on benefits of kingship without understanding responsibilities, similar to how young leaders approach new positions
• Confidence without competence leads to poor decisions, as shown in Simba's dangerous adventures
• Scar's "Be Prepared" leadership appeals to dissatisfaction rather than inspiring improvement
• Running from responsibility (Hakuna Matata) might feel like paradise but keeps us from our true purpose
• True leadership requires accepting both the glory and the weight of responsibility
• Our identity and leadership formation are shaped by who we allow to speak into our lives
• Sometimes we operate in our gifts (being a lion) while avoiding our assignment (being king)

Share with a friend and follow us on Facebook and Instagram. We're looking forward to the next time when we are able to unlearn together to move forward towards freedom.


00:00 - Welcome to the Summertime Series

02:54 - The Lion King: A Disney Classic

05:59 - The Circle of Life vs. The Ladder

15:17 - "I Just Can't Wait to Be King"

26:34 - Scar's "Be Prepared" Leadership Style

40:51 - Running Away vs. Facing Responsibility

53:48 - From Paradise to Purpose

01:13:36 - Embracing True Leadership

WEBVTT

00:00:02.765 --> 00:00:08.914
Hello everybody and welcome once again to the Unlearned Podcast.

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I'm your host, ruth Abigail, aka RA.

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What's up, friends?

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It's your girl, jaquita, and this is the podcast that is helping you gain the courage to change your mind so that you can experience more freedom.

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My Lord, freedom, listen, listen.

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We still out here in these summertime streets.

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Okay, another episode for y'all.

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Today is going to be a good time Summertime.

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Okay, all right, I'm not going to give y'all no one, and the living is easy.

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I'm not going to be the same.

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Uh-uh, no, come on, that's.

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Living is easy.

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We have a game.

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I'm not just the singer.

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Uh-uh, no, come on, that's all you get.

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That's all you get, all right, all right, see, and this is why I should be the singer in the duo, okay.

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I want you to go back to the episodes where Quinta was singing.

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At least I finished the songs.

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And then rewind and say which one you would prefer to hear Next episode.

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we're having a singing contest.

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Oh, Don't play with me.

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Do not play with me.

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We might do it on this one, because this particular movie that we're about to get into is dope, top tier, top tier, top tier, friends, top tier.

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Top tier.

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So you know, just because it's coming to my mind, and we never do it at the beginning of the episode yes, hey, friends, hey, all right, we're in the summertime series, we're giving y'all the vibes.

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Okay, you ought to come to the party, come to the cookout.

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All right, come on and like, share and subscribe.

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Yes, yes, yes, yes, and be a part of the movement.

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Yes.

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Okay, share a with a friend and we really want to hear from y'all in the comments.

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You know I love when people you know got things to say thank you all.

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You all been sharing the videos.

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You have seen it, we've been seeing it.

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When I see it as somebody else's story, because Instagram doesn't always tell you like when it's been shared.

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You know, like it's just I'm scrolling and I'm like you kind of see it.

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Right, right so listen, we love y'all, we appreciate y'all.

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Thanks for rocking with us, hanging with us.

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All that.

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Okay, so we're going to each sing the one line from our favorite song of this movie.

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You ready?

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I'm going to go first.

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Be prepared.

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Be prepared, be prepared, be prepared.

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I really hope this is your last time doing that.

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Okay, I really hope it will not be All right, I'm going to give it away with mine, okay?

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So, Hakuna Matata, what a wonderful phrase.

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Hakuna Matata ain't no passing parade.

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Is that what it is?

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Is that what?

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the line is okay, that's one of the lines you know they do a couple of very.

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Anyways, friends, we're talking about the lion king, like okay, I know classic, classic.

00:03:00.146 --> 00:03:14.882
Okay, this is what to me, this is what started the disney like movie empire, that like was our childhood, like you know, like there were other movies, but I feel like the lion king was, was the movie?

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Is that true?

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Did it come?

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out before the little mermaid.

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I think so.

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I think it did.

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I think you're right.

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I think so, maybe, yeah, no, yeah, no, it did not, it did not, it did not come out.

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Producer Joy saying it did not come out before Little Mermaid.

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We're going to fact check that I do have to disagree with you because Little Mermaid I don't know, even if the Little Mermaid came out, I wasn't really into the Little Mermaid.

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Okay, so maybe I'm speaking from my own personal experience, but Lion King was just that movie Lord.

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Okay, it came out, did not come out before the Little Mermaid at all.

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It was 1989.

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Was the Little Mermaid?

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Oh, yeah, wow.

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But I do think you're right, it put Disney.

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It did put it at a different level, I agree.

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I think it's a better movie.

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It had a gravitas, you know.

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Yeah, mufasa, muf her, yeah, mufasa listen.

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Okay, wait a minute before we, before we get into it.

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Okay, it's not a song in the movie, but if all of you knew that the new mufasa, the new like the background story, but that Anne Pierre, that Mufasa, anne Pierre, let me tell you something.

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Okay, put J-Hud on the map.

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That's true, they had to turn the comments off because y'all are crazy.

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Y'all are absolutely bananas and some of you should be ashamed of yourselves.

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I'll be honest, I really didn't.

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I didn't.

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I didn't get it like I I'm not getting into this with her.

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I'm not getting into this, I still don't I mean, I'm not saying he's not a, I'm not, we're not we're not doing this, all right, we're not doing this.

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We're not doing this, we'll move on.

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You're not gonna disrespect?

00:04:57.624 --> 00:05:00.988
but, but um, but he did play that and he did play.

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He did a great job in mufasa.

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We love Mufasa.

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If you haven't seen Mufasa, you should go see it.

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It's a great movie, you should absolutely go see Mufasa, it really puts this movie into perspective it really does and I think it really.

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It does a really good job of honoring the classic by having to.

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By what am I trying to say?

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Honoring the classic by showing us some things.

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I'm trying by showing us some things that we maybe didn't think about right, some different perspectives of different characters.

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So it's I think it's really good.

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Whatever I was going to say before I got tripped up was going to be a lot better than that.

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Think it's really good.

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Whatever I was going to say before I got tripped up was going to be a lot better than that, but it's all good.

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I'm sure you know, I think one thing that I love about the Lion King, you know, and all the Disney movies, the movies we grew up with okay, listen, classic, yeah, man, top tier.

00:06:01.264 --> 00:06:05.480
Okay, we could do a whole Disney series, we, top tier.

00:06:05.480 --> 00:06:06.646
Okay, we could do a whole disney series.

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We really all right, we're gonna put a pin in that y'all uh, catch us next summer.

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All right, stay tuned.

00:06:08.995 --> 00:06:11.742
Um that would, that would hit, that would really I love disney.

00:06:11.843 --> 00:06:26.274
Disney is nice but I think the thing about the lion king is that it showcases, for the purposes of our podcast, amen, all right, it showcases leadership and themes of unlearning.

00:06:26.274 --> 00:06:28.483
Yes, so profoundly.

00:06:28.483 --> 00:06:45.692
You know like it is like the, the visual journey of watching, you know, a young, let's say 20 something year old, although he was a child, right, but it goes through the journey of going from child to you know, to King to King.

00:06:45.872 --> 00:06:54.906
Yeah, I mean, it gives you the whole thing of how that happens and everything that I think that we talk about, from going from young adulthood the middle adulthood.

00:06:54.906 --> 00:06:57.471
I'm like it's there, yeah, it's there.

00:06:57.771 --> 00:07:22.850
Yeah, I, it's, it's, uh, it is, and I think, and what I, what we're going to, you know we're going to go through it and I think the thing that I, when you first they set it up right, they set the movie up beautifully by just explaining the world in a way that is like everything has a purpose and everything comes to an end.

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Yeah, and they start off with that right.

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The circle of life.

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You're welcome.

00:07:40.206 --> 00:07:44.512
Sorry, you're going to be hearing this throughout the entire show.

00:07:44.512 --> 00:07:48.055
So it really this idea of the circle of life.

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I mean, we were kids and we're listening to this, we're singing this.

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We have no clue the depth of what that meant.

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I love the part where he's taking Simba and he's showing him the pride.

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He's showing them the pride lens and he's talking about the antelope and how they eat the antelope, and so I'm trying to remember the exact line, but I can't right now.

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But they're having this conversation and his father explains, like you know, that we eat the antelope but when we die, essentially we turn into grass and the antelope eats us.

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So there is not a, it's not a hierarchy we're not.

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We're not above each other we work.

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It's a circle.

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It's not a ladder.

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And so it through that, through that, through that.

00:08:46.530 --> 00:08:53.696
That presentation in the very beginning yeah, they are talking about leadership as a circle.

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Yeah, not a ladder, not not, I climb up on top of you.

00:08:56.787 --> 00:09:08.313
Oh, that's so good, but we all affect each other, so we all have to learn how to work together, and so that's then, of course, juxtaposed by, you know, by Scar and his mentality, right.

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It's a ladder mentality.

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It's a ladder, ooh, wee.

00:09:11.249 --> 00:09:22.192
Okay, just so we're clear about how we're going to move through this movie guys, all right, if you know anything about the Lion King, the soundtrack was banging.

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Okay.

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Some of us know these songs word for word.

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Okay, a little fifth grade Jaquita, that Akuna Matata, okay, had me on lock, right.

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But we are going to take five of the top songs from the movie and really flesh them out and think about the themes that hit sort of some of our topics with leadership, with unlearning, with becoming with identity and leadership formation.

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So we're gonna hit those.

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So Ruth already started a little bit with the circle of life, that circle versus ladder thing.

00:09:57.408 --> 00:10:04.452
That is so deep and I think that it changes the way that we see ambition Absolutely.

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Ambition is not to go up, it's to go around, it's to go?

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Yes, it's.

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Yes, it's to take.

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It's your turn.

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When is it my turn?

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It's a you, you, you, wait your turn, yeah.

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And it becomes about contributing versus overseeing.

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That's correct.

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You know, like I'm not over something, I'm in it.

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I'm in it.

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And when you think of leadership as being a role that that is encompassing, you know everybody has a place and a position in the circle.

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And we're all feeding into each other versus.

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I got to climb up this ladder and I'm willing to kick you down to get up there, yep, just so that I can be at the top.

00:10:44.188 --> 00:10:45.250
Yeah, you know, I think.

00:10:45.250 --> 00:10:56.471
I think that it's a beautiful display of how we, how we essentially have to grow into thinking that leadership is about community and not about ambition.

00:10:57.419 --> 00:11:08.081
And you know, I think this idea of to your point, we are, uh, we are contributing to something you are, it doesn't.

00:11:08.081 --> 00:11:20.486
It highlights the idea of not, not, not a position, but roles Everybody has a role to play and the fact that we are all, no matter what, that is right.

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You are all.

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You are a small piece to a big puzzle and it's like you are, you got.

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We have to remember that, like we're a small piece to a big puzzle, whether it's in your own house, you're a small piece to a to a to a bigger puzzle, right, a larger puzzle of your, of your family, of your community.

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We're that way in in our greater society.

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We're that way with the universe.

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Right, we are small and we're a small piece to a bigger puzzle and a bigger plan.

00:11:50.340 --> 00:12:08.783
And so this idea that if we can get caught up in position which takes you above the puzzle, above the plan, and that you can't function that because you can't be above and beyond what you didn't create, you didn't create the picture.

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Therefore, you can't dictate the picture from outside of the picture.

00:12:13.660 --> 00:12:15.706
You were in the picture, no but you're hitting.

00:12:15.765 --> 00:12:19.341
You're hitting the point that was that was kind of starting to bubble up.

00:12:19.341 --> 00:12:33.440
Is that the difference between mufasa and Simba we'll talk about Scar in a minute is that when you know the history of a thing, you're able to better put things in context.

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And because Mufasa especially if you've seen the movie knew the history of the place, he was able to put himself in context.

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You know like he has lived part of that bigger picture.

00:12:47.750 --> 00:12:52.006
Yeah, simba has not lived any of the picture.

00:12:52.006 --> 00:13:00.788
So when he thinks about things like king and authority and you know positioning, he's thinking.

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This is how I can only see the world, according to how I have lived in it, and a lot of times, I think, in our 20s, as young leaders emerging leaders, if you will, because I wasn't always a leader, you know it took me living in it in order to grow into it, but as young leaders, we often see things like you know, let's just be real A lot of us wanted leadership positions to get more money, absolutely.

00:13:31.576 --> 00:13:32.681
You know what I'm saying.

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Why do you want to be a leader?

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I want to make more money?

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I don't.

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I don't want people telling me what to do.

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I don't want people telling me what to do.

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I don't?

00:13:41.246 --> 00:13:41.628
you know?

00:13:41.628 --> 00:13:44.251
I don't want to be at the bottom of something.

00:13:44.251 --> 00:13:45.914
Sorry, I saw some neck popping.

00:13:45.914 --> 00:13:49.106
I don't want to be at the bottom of something, you know.

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I want to.

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I want people.

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When I had my first real professional job, I felt like I was always saying I need them to see what I bring to the table.

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You know like I want to use my gifts and my talents and I really disliked the job I was in and every time a job that I would be halfway interested came in I would apply and that company would not give me an interview because they said you have to perfect the role you're in, which was the introductory role.

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We have to see that you can perfect that before we can move you up.

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And eventually I left.

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I was like introductory role we have to see that you can perfect that before we can move you up.

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And I eventually I left.

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I was like bye, I'm going to go somewhere where my talents are appreciated.

00:14:30.682 --> 00:14:45.613
But it was the moment I left I said this is bittersweet because I was in a place of preparation that I did not appreciate and we don't always appreciate the places that build and mold us.

00:14:46.575 --> 00:14:48.022
Yes, and can I say?

00:14:48.022 --> 00:14:51.552
I want to say this, this this is interesting we don't.

00:14:51.552 --> 00:15:02.054
What Simba had, that a lot of people aren't necessarily privileged to have, is to be raised by a leader.

00:15:02.054 --> 00:15:38.759
And I think, and I will say from my experience in that and I and I attribute this to my parents, I really do, cause I I attribute so much to them, but I attribute this to my parents because, you know, both of them led organizations and my father was a leader of a church and organization, and so I grew up with people who I was, I was, I saw leadership and I understood, they made me understand the value of playing your role when it's time to play your role and not looking for a position.

00:15:39.320 --> 00:15:55.236
And so when I got into the, when I got into the space, the professional world, I didn't really pay attention so much to position as much as I'm just working, I'm just here to work.

00:15:55.236 --> 00:16:05.431
They taught me how to work and I think what ended up happening was other people began to what.

00:16:05.431 --> 00:16:08.336
I took me years to see a leader in myself.

00:16:08.336 --> 00:16:18.750
And I will say the way, the way I have identified with Simba which of course we'll get to later is running away from that, because I also saw the responsibility of it.

00:16:18.750 --> 00:16:24.109
I'm good, Just put me to work, I can work, I do whatever you want me to do?

00:16:24.429 --> 00:16:25.091
Put me to work.

00:16:25.091 --> 00:16:26.722
I don't want to lead, I just want to work.

00:16:26.722 --> 00:16:28.187
Now, that doesn't.

00:16:28.187 --> 00:16:33.068
I'm not that's not me saying that leaders don't work, but the idea of I didn't want to be in a position.

00:16:33.068 --> 00:16:51.831
I have to make decisions, have have responsibility, um, have to be, have to kind of be this, this example of something that is submitted to something larger like and I and, and you know, have to be in the spotlight, and all the things that I eventually did move into.

00:16:51.831 --> 00:17:01.102
But it wasn't a desire, because I think I saw what it, what it was, and I was like I'm good, I don't want that, um, I think.

00:17:01.384 --> 00:17:02.907
But but what simba?

00:17:02.907 --> 00:17:04.589
Also the of?

00:17:04.589 --> 00:17:06.842
So I guess there was a pros and cons to that.

00:17:06.842 --> 00:17:26.368
But I think the benefit of being up under whether it's in your home or a mentor or somebody that you're very close to, who has a leadership role and a leadership position, is that you see, you don't you see the um, the, the, that it's not the uh.

00:17:26.368 --> 00:17:35.336
They can correct your vision of it on the spot, as as Mufasa did with Simba.

00:17:35.336 --> 00:17:40.819
It is not about being on top, it's about understanding what role you play in this circle.

00:17:40.819 --> 00:17:44.673
And so, immediately he's getting, he's getting instruction.

00:17:44.673 --> 00:17:53.721
Where it takes a lot of us years to get through experience Right and so you can get further with instruction and coaching.

00:17:53.721 --> 00:17:58.465
Where, like, you can get further faster with instruction and coaching.

00:17:58.807 --> 00:18:11.719
Where, it takes people experience for years to learn something, and if you are privileged to have somebody that that can do that we're wise to pay attention to it can do that, we're wise to pay attention to it.

00:18:11.739 --> 00:18:25.193
Yeah, and I will also say you know, simba, that there there is a benefit.

00:18:25.193 --> 00:18:28.525
You know, fathers give direction and give uh and help to shape our understanding of the world in that way.

00:18:28.545 --> 00:18:34.101
You know, and I think that for some of us, you know, like cause, as you were thinking, I was like you know, what did I get, you know from my family?

00:18:34.101 --> 00:18:41.936
And you know, I got my mom, my grandparents, especially my grandfather, you know, very entrepreneurial hustlers.

00:18:41.936 --> 00:18:47.634
We're going to work and you know, in my mind I was like to get a thing I got to work, a thing you know.

00:18:47.634 --> 00:18:48.957
And so it wasn't.

00:18:48.957 --> 00:18:54.523
There wasn't a lot of teaching and coaching, because there was always a lot of doing.

00:18:54.523 --> 00:18:56.105
Sure, you know what I'm saying.

00:18:56.105 --> 00:19:12.721
And so I think that the idea of teaching and coaching for me was something that I had to learn to adopt, Because anytime that I felt like I was in a space where I had to be taught or I had to be coached, I felt like I wasn't performing.

00:19:12.721 --> 00:19:27.915
And so the teaching and coaching, when someone was like, hey, you need to X, y and Z, immediately I had to fight these feelings of you haven't worked hard enough, are you not doing what you're supposed to do?

00:19:27.915 --> 00:19:28.696
Are you not good enough?

00:19:28.717 --> 00:19:38.962
And I think that a lot of us are turning away from teaching and coaching because there's something in, there's something else inside of you that is battling.

00:19:38.962 --> 00:19:43.213
Receiving from someone else, that's good, you know, and you have to.

00:19:43.213 --> 00:19:46.340
You have to know what that is so that you can.

00:19:46.340 --> 00:19:58.781
You can get what God has prepared for you, because he will send people in your life that will want to pour and mentor, like you know, and it doesn't have to be it's not always a steady relationship like Simba had.

00:19:58.781 --> 00:20:12.442
Sometimes it's an encounter with someone who who has been put there to pull you to your next place, but we don't receive because of what we're feeling and what we're battling with internally.

00:20:12.442 --> 00:20:18.962
And the more again we preach self-awareness a lot, the more aware you become that.

00:20:19.083 --> 00:20:26.083
What is making me fight against the mentorship and the coaching that the Lord has sent?

00:20:26.083 --> 00:20:42.603
I just want to really emphasize that, because there's a lot of people out here talking and there's a lot of people who want to instruct and speak into your life, but you also have to be able to discern, ok, which, which ones did the Lord send and which ones are, are, are the many voices?

00:20:42.603 --> 00:20:54.852
That's in the air as well, and so I think, really, if you are a person who struggles with instruction and coaching, and it's not because you don't want to be coached.

00:20:54.852 --> 00:21:00.343
It's just that something in you rises up every time someone tries to help you.

00:21:00.343 --> 00:21:15.634
I really want you to examine that and say okay, what is it that causes me to fight against the wisdom that God sent that's really good, and I think you made that point about feeling like.

00:21:15.973 --> 00:21:29.237
it's almost like coaching and teaching is, when somebody does that feeling like you have done something, your inadequacy is showing.

00:21:29.237 --> 00:21:33.523
Right, you've done something poorly, and I do.

00:21:33.523 --> 00:21:34.325
I think you're right.

00:21:34.325 --> 00:21:39.377
I think that is something that we have to unlearn, that that's not true.

00:21:39.377 --> 00:21:41.240
Like that's not true.

00:21:41.240 --> 00:21:52.604
We need to embrace the benefit of instruction before experience teaches us.

00:21:52.825 --> 00:21:58.094
It just takes longer and you can grow faster with the right instruction.

00:21:58.094 --> 00:21:58.595
That's what I mean.

00:21:58.595 --> 00:22:00.760
Coaching and professional coaching.

00:22:00.760 --> 00:22:10.404
I mean I have benefited so much by professional coaches, informal coaching, by people.

00:22:10.404 --> 00:22:14.511
I'm just like it just takes 30 seconds of something I didn't know.

00:22:14.511 --> 00:22:16.757
Okay, I just had that experience.

00:22:16.757 --> 00:22:19.083
The other day I was with a fundraising coach.

00:22:19.083 --> 00:22:21.594
We talked for an hour.

00:22:21.594 --> 00:22:23.539
What they said in the first five minutes I'd have paid for.

00:22:23.539 --> 00:22:24.851
We're good.

00:22:24.851 --> 00:22:29.538
I mean that right, there was like, oh, this is what I'm supposed to be doing.

00:22:29.538 --> 00:22:38.056
I had no idea, and so it just shifted my whole way of thinking and it shifted my energy.

00:22:38.056 --> 00:22:42.032
Like I was putting my energy in all this other stuff, but I need to put it here.

00:22:42.032 --> 00:22:45.060
Great, you know what I'm saying.

00:22:45.060 --> 00:22:45.823
It's everything.

00:22:45.823 --> 00:22:47.660
So, like, yeah, it's important.

00:22:49.411 --> 00:22:59.223
So yeah, I think you have to flip your mindset from thinking that people think that I'm not good enough.

00:22:59.223 --> 00:23:07.624
You have to flip that to people think that what's in me is so great that they're willing to invest in it.

00:23:07.624 --> 00:23:11.219
That's right, and I think if you flip that mindset you'll be more open.

00:23:14.349 --> 00:23:22.232
So, moving to the the next, the next, y'all ain't no lion king with that deep thing, the circle of life thing I'm saying it got us caught up.

00:23:22.394 --> 00:23:24.075
Hey, that's real man.

00:23:24.075 --> 00:23:28.099
Um, all right, so let's talk about what happens next.

00:23:28.099 --> 00:23:47.067
So we have Zazu, who, who is kind of charged with being Simba's handler, really, which he doesn't like, and so the scene.

00:23:47.067 --> 00:23:48.736
Of course, we know the song.

00:23:48.736 --> 00:23:55.519
Oh, I just can't wait to be to be king, okay, uh, and so that's the jam.

00:23:55.519 --> 00:24:01.535
That's the jam, I mean, that's the jam.

00:24:01.535 --> 00:24:09.050
Um, so, so this, this, this, I mean that I love just the title of the song.

00:24:09.050 --> 00:24:17.256
I just can't wait to be king, like it's just so funny because it's like if you only knew, if you knew, if you knew like you would wait.

00:24:17.415 --> 00:24:18.019
You will wait.

00:24:18.019 --> 00:24:19.777
Like you would wait, you will wait.

00:24:19.777 --> 00:24:24.317
You'll be like I'm good, I don't think, but it's the idea of what kingship is.

00:24:24.798 --> 00:24:36.980
Yes, Right, Because I think even throughout the song you know everything that he sings about is about how being a king will benefit him.

00:24:36.980 --> 00:24:37.703
That's right, you know.

00:24:37.703 --> 00:24:38.567
No one's saying do this.

00:24:38.587 --> 00:24:42.856
No one's saying be there, you know stop everywhere.

00:24:43.376 --> 00:24:52.180
Yeah, you know standing in the spotlight you know like he is like man king looks great Because of the benefits package.

00:24:52.180 --> 00:24:55.112
Yes, see, that's what happens Because of the benefits package.

00:24:55.112 --> 00:24:58.161
That's what happens when you start looking at the next position.

00:24:58.161 --> 00:25:01.359
This is what we all do.

00:25:01.359 --> 00:25:03.670
Even to this day, I still do this, my Lord.

00:25:03.670 --> 00:25:07.141
You start looking, and you know you looking through the job description.

00:25:07.141 --> 00:25:13.480
How many of you go down to the bottom first to see where the salary at, before you even look at?

00:25:13.601 --> 00:25:14.342
what the job?

00:25:14.382 --> 00:25:15.023
requires.

00:25:15.690 --> 00:25:15.891
Hilarious.

00:25:15.911 --> 00:25:20.080
You scrolling down saying what are the benefits?

00:25:20.080 --> 00:25:27.442
Okay, we all go looking for benefits before we go looking for requirements for job.

00:25:27.442 --> 00:25:29.816
That's good For the job, for the position description.

00:25:29.836 --> 00:25:30.377
That's absolutely true.

00:25:30.478 --> 00:25:32.590
That's absolutely true, you know because everything he said had nothing to do with the position description.

00:25:32.590 --> 00:25:33.806
That's good For the job, for the position description.

00:25:33.806 --> 00:25:34.144
That's absolutely true.

00:25:34.144 --> 00:25:35.671
That's absolutely true, you know, because everything he said had nothing to do with the position description.

00:25:35.671 --> 00:25:43.329
That's correct, Like it was nothing about having to, like you know, take care of people, having to oversee operations.

00:25:44.111 --> 00:25:50.340
Making hard decisions and, you know, having to, yeah, like having to be responsible.

00:25:50.340 --> 00:25:51.723
No, none of that.

00:25:51.723 --> 00:25:52.605
None of that, none of that.

00:25:52.891 --> 00:26:01.681
So often in those early young adult years, we made moves based off of the benefits package.

00:26:01.681 --> 00:26:11.576
Right, you're like, listen, this job paying more, and they got me twisted up in this job I'm at now, okay, I'm out.

00:26:11.576 --> 00:26:18.338
You know, and I think that we don't always, we're always, uh it.

00:26:18.338 --> 00:26:24.295
I think it's just kind of like just human nature to think, okay, what am I going to get out of this move?

00:26:24.295 --> 00:26:30.535
Yeah, to think of that first, before you think what is this move going to pull out of?

00:26:30.535 --> 00:26:41.544
Require of mandate of me, right, and, and that that's some young leader stuff, right, that is okay, it is that's some young leader.

00:26:41.544 --> 00:26:58.023
Thinking, right, there, it is right because we make moves, because, also, as a young person, you know, sit around there, pouncing all over the place, running all over the place, feeling like he can go anywhere and do anything, even though his daddy told him to stay in the light, walk in the light.

00:26:58.105 --> 00:26:59.954
Okay, that's not a part of the sound.

00:27:01.509 --> 00:27:04.838
That's all he had to do, though, yeah, you're right, you're right, you're right.

00:27:04.838 --> 00:27:05.601
That's all he had to do.

00:27:05.601 --> 00:27:09.300
But, like when you're young, you feel limitless.

00:27:14.549 --> 00:27:15.031
Yes, you feel limitless.

00:27:15.031 --> 00:27:16.577
Yes, you feel that you feel limitless, I can do, I'm gonna be king.

00:27:16.577 --> 00:27:17.380
What y'all talking about, you know.

00:27:17.380 --> 00:27:33.065
I like this idea, the benefit package, because what this, this is and I'm just this is the I when I think, when I look at a benefit package as when the seat I'm sitting in, I think about how much it's going to cost me Come on here.

00:27:33.065 --> 00:27:39.406
And so what we don't realize is the king creates the package.

00:27:40.666 --> 00:27:41.788
That's what your job is.

00:27:42.448 --> 00:27:44.788
But if you're thinking so much of how it's going to benefit you.

00:27:44.788 --> 00:27:45.709
You actually aren't.

00:27:45.709 --> 00:27:50.659
That's not king, that's not leadership, that's not the.

00:27:50.659 --> 00:27:55.694
The question is where the package come from, and that's where you are about to go.

00:27:55.694 --> 00:28:06.784
Is you have to be prepared to create packages for other people and that is a totally, and so what that means is you have to weigh costs over value all the time.

00:28:07.250 --> 00:28:07.750
Yeah.

00:28:07.911 --> 00:28:10.973
And and and and weigh stuff that other people don't have to weigh.

00:28:10.973 --> 00:28:17.602
And so I think, like the way he's thinking is really it's you're.

00:28:17.602 --> 00:28:23.613
You're not thinking like somebody who creates a package, you're looking at what the package is and you're you're.

00:28:23.613 --> 00:28:27.583
And so I think that's as a as a young leader, which I understand.

00:28:27.583 --> 00:28:30.256
I mean we all did it, like you said, we're all.

00:28:30.256 --> 00:28:31.538
It's like I want to.

00:28:31.538 --> 00:28:32.541
What, what's in this?

00:28:32.541 --> 00:28:33.955
What this, what's this move going to do?

00:28:33.955 --> 00:28:34.679
What do I get?

00:28:34.679 --> 00:28:42.182
You know, my thing was really less about the amount of money and more about the amount of freedom I had, so, like, could I do other things?

00:28:42.182 --> 00:28:43.612
Can I explore?

00:28:43.612 --> 00:28:45.233
Can I leave when I want to leave?

00:28:45.233 --> 00:28:46.715
Can I create my own schedule?

00:28:46.776 --> 00:28:49.901
Right, that's what can I get there when I want to get there?

00:28:49.921 --> 00:28:51.323
That's what I be thinking about.

00:28:51.663 --> 00:28:53.445
I'll stay as long as it takes.

00:28:53.445 --> 00:28:56.990
Oh, I'm so the opposite, but please don't make me get there at 7.30 in the morning.

00:28:57.612 --> 00:28:59.478
Oh, I'll get there as early as you want me to get.

00:28:59.478 --> 00:29:00.180
I'm leaving.

00:29:00.180 --> 00:29:02.051
If I could leave at noon or 1 o'clock.

00:29:02.311 --> 00:29:13.705
oh, that's amazing, and you know that is the majority of the people that I work with, like that I have worked with in my lifetime actually, but I like round out like 130.

00:29:13.705 --> 00:29:17.580
I'm kicking in, I'm like let me hit these emails.

00:29:17.580 --> 00:29:18.805
Oh, that's you know and.

00:29:18.805 --> 00:29:25.184
I know the the people be like we've been waiting all day for this guy and I'm like I just didn't have it that is funny.

00:29:25.465 --> 00:29:26.351
So you gotta know yourself.

00:29:26.351 --> 00:29:31.121
You gotta know yourself, um, but I think that that that that's the.

00:29:31.121 --> 00:29:32.703
That was, that was what it was for me.

00:29:32.703 --> 00:29:45.746
And but as I, as I, as I got, like you said, the requirements and yeah, as you, as you develop more responsibility, you do a lot of times get more of that.

00:29:45.746 --> 00:29:59.075
But the requirements are I sometimes I'm up at 10 or 11 o'clock at night Cause I can't sleep, cause I make this decision that's going to affect my team and I don't know how I'm up at 10 or 11 o'clock at night because I can't sleep, because I make this decision that's going to affect my team and I don't know how I'm going to tell them right, or I'm going to.

00:29:59.837 --> 00:30:02.161
I have to figure out, I have to make this budget work.

00:30:02.161 --> 00:30:05.657
You know what I'm saying and I don't quite know how to do it.

00:30:05.657 --> 00:30:13.271
Like I got more expenses than I'm tracking income and I got to figure out another way to get this money Right, and so that's.

00:30:13.271 --> 00:30:15.675
That is not something that you can.

00:30:15.675 --> 00:30:19.703
That's part of that cost package that we don't.

00:30:19.703 --> 00:30:25.382
We don't always consider when we're talking about elevating in our leadership.

00:30:25.382 --> 00:30:29.736
And so with with Simba, he didn't have, he didn't have the.

00:30:29.736 --> 00:30:34.224
He didn't have the maturity to get there, he wasn't there.

00:30:34.224 --> 00:30:47.324
And that's where the benefit of having a father who's leading you and who you need to listen to a father, mentor, supporter, coach whatever that can help you understand.

00:30:48.525 --> 00:30:50.146
This is not about what you get.

00:30:50.146 --> 00:30:51.596
This is about what you have.

00:30:51.596 --> 00:30:54.277
This is about what you have to give up.

00:30:54.277 --> 00:30:55.315
You have to give.

00:30:55.315 --> 00:31:01.058
Are you prepared to give to the level of a leader?

00:31:04.038 --> 00:31:15.538
and I think that that was when they were practicing, you know, pouncing and what she's trying to say.

00:31:15.577 --> 00:31:17.300
People is roar.

00:31:17.922 --> 00:31:18.343
Roar.

00:31:18.864 --> 00:31:19.184
Roar.

00:31:20.049 --> 00:31:22.513
No, because it's when you put the I-N-G on it.

00:31:22.513 --> 00:31:26.259
Okay, roaring, roaring, roaring.

00:31:26.319 --> 00:31:27.001
There you go.

00:31:27.001 --> 00:31:28.182
There it is, oh man.

00:31:28.182 --> 00:31:30.835
One more time, I promise no leave me alone.

00:31:31.176 --> 00:31:35.682
Okay, when he was practicing his roar, okay, that felt good.

00:31:35.682 --> 00:31:36.067
There you go.

00:31:36.067 --> 00:31:43.259
I love how it becomes.

00:31:43.259 --> 00:31:46.483
It becomes a symbol in the movie, though, yes, like.

00:31:46.483 --> 00:31:47.986
It's like you ain't.

00:31:47.986 --> 00:31:50.136
You haven't really developed.

00:31:50.136 --> 00:31:51.540
You know like, and and your.

00:31:51.540 --> 00:31:52.565
I think the haven't really developed.

00:31:52.565 --> 00:31:53.207
You know like, and and your.

00:31:53.207 --> 00:31:58.217
I think the roar is really about how you um it.

00:31:58.217 --> 00:32:01.383
It's because it has a purpose, right, like.

00:32:01.383 --> 00:32:15.951
You want to use it for your own self-recognition, your own, you know, ability to stand out and and and your ability to pronounce to everybody I'm the king, I'm the person y'all need to listen to.

00:32:15.951 --> 00:32:18.500
You want to use it for that, but it's not.

00:32:18.500 --> 00:32:45.633
It comes through a character development process, and a lot of times I think in our younger years we spend a lot of time honing our talents and not a lot of time building our character, and the movie shows like there is a difference between you know, your ability to be a lion and your ability to be a king.

00:32:46.894 --> 00:32:52.922
And I think the movie really juxtaposes that as we look at the life of Simba.

00:32:52.922 --> 00:32:56.586
You can be who you are.

00:32:56.586 --> 00:33:01.682
You are a lion, right, and in every instance of your life you're going to show up as a lion.

00:33:01.682 --> 00:33:24.803
But to become a king is going to require a level of sacrifice and a level of intentionality that you are going to have to set yourself to, and I think that that's what Ruth Abigail and I both realized, as leaders Like you can be good at your job, but to be a leader, you are going to have to be intentional and you are going to have to sacrifice.

00:33:25.049 --> 00:33:31.262
Yes, you are, yes, yeah, and I think, I think you know the great, uh, the great James Earl Jones.

00:33:31.284 --> 00:33:31.625
Okay, come on.

00:33:31.625 --> 00:33:32.748
Come on First of all, one time, the great James.

00:33:32.768 --> 00:33:35.886
Earl Jones, come on One time for the great James.

00:33:36.008 --> 00:33:36.711
Earl Jones man.

00:33:36.711 --> 00:33:40.420
One time for the great late James.

00:33:40.519 --> 00:33:41.083
Earl Jones.

00:33:41.605 --> 00:33:47.539
You really could not have found anybody else to voice Mufasa Mufasa.

00:33:47.539 --> 00:33:55.952
Like you know, when Mufasa showed up on the scene, he was the gravitas of the movie and Rafiki, you know.

00:33:55.952 --> 00:33:56.673
Rafiki was.

00:33:57.453 --> 00:34:27.364
Rafiki was also super deep, you know he was he was but Mufasa, the foundation of the movie, and it was his voice that we were kind of hearing in the background through every move that the movie made Right, and I think that it was so pivotal when you think about I just can't wait to be king.

00:34:27.364 --> 00:34:41.936
You know, simba had a picture of a king but he did not yet have the have the lived experience of one and to that we see that, as we see that in the scene like that's.

00:34:42.097 --> 00:35:07.918
That's exemplify in the scene where he and Nala go to the elephant yard, elephant grave graveyard and thank you, um, and they the the shadow lands right and um, okay, all right, if it ain't the shadow of the almighty, I don't want it oh god help, huh, okay, okay, uh.

00:35:08.157 --> 00:35:14.489
so they go there and, of course, the hyenas are there and they are, you know, into your what.

00:35:14.489 --> 00:35:16.878
Like you said, queda, you know Simba's a lion.

00:35:16.878 --> 00:35:21.402
He's like you know, I'm I'm a lion and I can go wherever I want.

00:35:21.402 --> 00:35:24.938
I can go where I want, I can like, I'm not afraid of you, that kind of thing.

00:35:24.938 --> 00:35:27.050
And so he tries to prove that.

00:35:27.050 --> 00:35:45.001
So one of the I think it's a beautiful thing, but it's just underdeveloped is that, because somebody does know who he is, and this is, he knows who he is and at this point he's clear on who he is, because of who he's connected to his father.

00:35:46.163 --> 00:35:52.347
And because he does that he shows up with a level of confidence that seems misplaced.

00:35:52.347 --> 00:35:53.967
Why are you so confident?

00:35:53.967 --> 00:36:00.373
And that's where that roar comes from.

00:36:00.373 --> 00:36:04.083
He roars because he's confident, but the problem is he doesn't have the competence that comes from lived experience.

00:36:04.083 --> 00:36:12.440
Right, you got confidence but no competence and so the confidence of young, young leaders have a lot of confidence.

00:36:12.440 --> 00:36:13.923
I had a lot of confidence.

00:36:13.923 --> 00:36:24.117
I've I've always had a lot of confidence, right, but what happens is that that confidence is not able to take you through um conflict.

00:36:25.077 --> 00:36:41.998
You have to have competence, you have to be competent hold up, hold up, hold up, because you didn't add that conflict in at first when we, when we first talked about this okay, you didn't put another, you didn't put a little sauce on it now, so you got to break that down, I don't you?

00:36:42.038 --> 00:36:42.920
made it saucy.

00:36:42.920 --> 00:36:49.817
I don't be giving you all my stuff in the pre-meeting, so, um, no, but.

00:36:49.817 --> 00:36:50.117
But.

00:36:50.117 --> 00:36:58.092
But when you see that the conflict when you are, when the confidence works until you have a problem to solve.

00:36:58.092 --> 00:37:05.492
And now I have to know something like it's not just about how I show up, it's not just about my roar.

00:37:05.492 --> 00:37:09.282
It's about what's in my mind, what's in my head and so he.

00:37:09.442 --> 00:37:10.554
He didn't listen to his father.

00:37:10.554 --> 00:37:11.500
His father knew you ain't ready for that son.

00:37:11.500 --> 00:37:12.123
He didn't listen to his father.

00:37:12.123 --> 00:37:14.815
His father knew you ain't ready for that son and he didn't listen to him.

00:37:14.815 --> 00:37:15.817
Because he's confident.

00:37:15.817 --> 00:37:17.481
All right, that's cool, I'm going.

00:37:17.481 --> 00:37:19.896
Well, I'm going anyway because I'm confident.

00:37:19.896 --> 00:37:22.909
But you don't have the knowledge your father has to know.

00:37:22.909 --> 00:37:23.670
Don't go.

00:37:23.670 --> 00:37:26.813
And so that that's so you.

00:37:26.813 --> 00:37:40.349
You have to be, you have to be aware that your influence can only go as far as your competence.

00:37:40.349 --> 00:37:53.804
Yeah, and if you have all the influence in the world, but it stops at your level of competence, but see that's the difference between people who talk a big game and the people who follow through For sure.

00:37:54.309 --> 00:38:00.693
And you know, we all know the person who sorry, I just my mind flashed back as a leader.

00:38:00.693 --> 00:38:02.320
Let's flip it a little bit.

00:38:02.320 --> 00:38:11.429
Let's talk about from the perspective of being a leader, and you're looking at your team, you're looking at the people that it's your job to mold and shape.

00:38:11.429 --> 00:38:27.931
You have to be able Ooh, child, sorry, it's all coming back to me you have to be able to delineate the people who have the confidence versus the people who have the competence and the ones who are willing to learn, absolutely Because you're.

00:38:28.072 --> 00:38:31.398
The thing about Simba is is that he refused to be teachable?

00:38:31.398 --> 00:38:34.061
Yeah, he was like hey, I got refused to be teachable.

00:38:34.061 --> 00:38:35.342
Yeah, he was like hey, listen, I already got it.

00:38:35.342 --> 00:38:36.244
Pops, that's it.

00:38:36.244 --> 00:38:36.625
That's it.

00:38:36.625 --> 00:38:37.271
Yeah, you know.

00:38:37.271 --> 00:38:40.159
So, like, let me just roll over here and show you that I have it.

00:38:40.159 --> 00:38:41.753
Yep, and you always want.

00:38:41.753 --> 00:38:51.759
You want someone to prove to you that you need to be taught, yep, instead of keeping your heart in a place where you're always open to receive.

00:38:51.759 --> 00:38:59.951
Keeping your heart in a place where you're always open to receive, because here's the thing, and as a leader.

00:38:59.971 --> 00:39:03.639
You have to be able to discern who's who and how you are going to help them navigate through their Simba stage, through their young Simba stage.

00:39:03.639 --> 00:39:08.815
You have to be able to dictate okay, this one is all talk, but no follow through.

00:39:08.815 --> 00:39:11.440
This one is follow through.

00:39:11.440 --> 00:39:18.057
Has all the talents, the gifts and the skill sets to get to the place, but isn't confident in themselves.

00:39:18.057 --> 00:39:24.237
And here is the person that has enough humility to learn the competencies right.

00:39:24.237 --> 00:39:37.427
You have to know who's on your team, and I think the thing that needs to be reiterated when we get to the next song, which is Be Prepared, which is like be prepared.

00:39:37.427 --> 00:39:41.119
Sorry, it had to happen right then, because she did that in the middle of me talking.

00:39:41.119 --> 00:40:05.626
Y'all was going to see me go at it, right, but the thing is, is that the reason why it's so important that you know, that you know who's competent, who's confident and who's teachable, is because there's always a nefarious plan being made that could essentially break your team down.

00:40:05.650 --> 00:40:08.492
Look at you, look what you did, and look at the pivot.

00:40:08.492 --> 00:40:09.333
Look at the pivot.

00:40:09.333 --> 00:40:09.934
Oh yeah, I like it, I like it.

00:40:09.934 --> 00:40:10.576
That was good, that was good.

00:40:10.576 --> 00:40:11.016
Look at the pivot.

00:40:11.016 --> 00:40:12.918
Look at the pivot, I like it, I like it, that was good, that was good, yeah, I felt it.

00:40:12.938 --> 00:40:19.565
I felt it and so you have to your team, your team, walking how they walk.

00:40:19.565 --> 00:40:26.751
You know, mufasa, it was.

00:40:26.751 --> 00:40:27.893
Mufasa has to know who's who's in his land.

00:40:27.893 --> 00:40:29.536
He has to know who everyone really is and what's really going down.

00:40:29.536 --> 00:40:35.896
I remember when I would tell my team I could, I could feel it in the air when something was about to happen.

00:40:35.896 --> 00:40:42.081
You know, it's not because somebody told me, it's not because I went to a secret meeting that they weren't a part of.

00:40:42.081 --> 00:40:49.420
It's because I, as a leader, had to be aware of the intentions and the plans and the scope.

00:40:49.420 --> 00:40:56.335
I had to be aware of a larger scope so that I could fully prepare my team for what was preparing for them.

00:40:56.335 --> 00:41:00.231
Oh Lord, Right, and there was a plan being made against Simba.

00:41:00.231 --> 00:41:10.161
And because he was not prepared, because he walked in there confident but not competent, he got caught up in the middle of what was going to take him down.

00:41:10.161 --> 00:41:10.791
Man.

00:41:11.733 --> 00:41:13.639
So let's talk about being prepared.

00:41:14.590 --> 00:41:15.554
So I almost did it.

00:41:16.311 --> 00:41:18.858
Oh, see, see, you see you see, you see.

00:41:18.858 --> 00:41:29.679
So Scar obviously is the antagonist in this film, and Scar is.

00:41:29.679 --> 00:41:45.617
He has a plan, he knows what he wants and he's going to go after it, and what we often don't do is meet moments, like Quida just said, that are prepared for us with just as much preparation and so-.

00:41:46.731 --> 00:41:48.016
Ooh, wait a minute, Sorry.

00:41:48.016 --> 00:41:52.717
I really hope y'all heard that the moment, because it can be seen.

00:41:52.717 --> 00:42:03.882
It can be interpreted both in the light of you know, there's something that's being prepared against you, but there's also something that's being prepared for you.

00:42:03.882 --> 00:42:19.041
That's right, and if you would allow yourself to focus on who God is preparing you to become, what's being prepared against you won't prosper, that's right, and you'll still walk into what's prepared for you, man.

00:42:19.041 --> 00:42:20.112
But you have to.

00:42:20.112 --> 00:42:22.721
You have to, you have to submit to the process.

00:42:36.081 --> 00:42:44.188
You have to submit to the part of the movie where Scar is king, simba has left right and he's the king, but nobody has any food.

00:42:44.188 --> 00:42:50.072
They are restless, they don't know Like.

00:42:50.072 --> 00:42:52.536
Things are in a bad state and what we?

00:42:52.536 --> 00:42:58.224
What we see is Scar was prepared to get the crown, but he was not prepared to lead.

00:42:58.224 --> 00:43:03.802
Um, he was prepared to be in charge, but he wasn't prepared to lead.

00:43:03.802 --> 00:43:09.702
And so the question is, how do we avoid that?

00:43:09.702 --> 00:43:13.739
Because a lot of us, we like this idea.

00:43:14.000 --> 00:43:14.842
I had this moment.

00:43:14.842 --> 00:43:16.534
I got to be honest.

00:43:16.534 --> 00:43:17.818
This is going to be a transparent moment.

00:43:17.818 --> 00:43:21.958
I wasn't sure if I was going to share this or not, but I am, because this is just going to.

00:43:21.958 --> 00:43:28.860
It's a little peek into the part of me that I have to keep in check.

00:43:28.860 --> 00:43:42.393
Somebody said something like I was in this meeting the other day and they called me, I think, chief financial officer or chief financial, chief fundraiser, chief fundraiser, chief, something.

00:43:42.393 --> 00:43:43.615
They use the word chief.

00:43:43.615 --> 00:43:45.239
Here's what's it like.

00:43:45.239 --> 00:43:46.402
I don't.

00:43:46.402 --> 00:43:50.815
Sometimes I forget that I do have the ego.

00:43:50.815 --> 00:43:52.257
Let me just be real.

00:43:52.257 --> 00:43:59.353
And when I heard the word chief something, triggered my ego.

00:43:59.393 --> 00:44:00.135
It triggered it.

00:44:00.135 --> 00:44:04.302
I don't call, I don't call, I don't use that language, but that's that's the language they use.

00:44:04.302 --> 00:44:04.822
Wasn't no big deal.

00:44:04.822 --> 00:44:07.195
They were just saying it, you know, cause that's the language they use.

00:44:07.195 --> 00:44:15.371
But it triggered me and I was like Ooh.

00:44:15.371 --> 00:44:16.393
But it triggered me and I was like Ooh.

00:44:16.434 --> 00:44:23.771
You need to check, keep that in check, because I in my, in, in, in, in a less mature version of myself and and and a less, um, spiritually mature version of myself.

00:44:23.771 --> 00:44:40.141
I can let that get to my head and and realize, like, um, my um, what, what I'm, what I'm seeking after, is that kind of uh designation, right, and that, and that's not that.

00:44:40.141 --> 00:44:41.586
But that's not what leadership is about.

00:44:41.586 --> 00:44:46.876
And sometimes you, you have to be aware of uh, like, like we say all the time.

00:44:46.876 --> 00:44:52.268
You have to be self-aware to understand what triggers you Like, what, what thing?

00:44:52.268 --> 00:45:01.827
When you hear that, what, when you hear, when you hear certain words, certain ideas, what triggers you to say, ooh, there's something about that.

00:45:01.827 --> 00:45:03.351
That's like that.

00:45:03.351 --> 00:45:05.844
That excites me, but not maybe for the right reason.

00:45:06.224 --> 00:45:06.605
Right.

00:45:06.905 --> 00:45:10.440
Um, and and be aware of that because, uh, that that's going to help you.

00:45:10.440 --> 00:45:11.724
So how do you?

00:45:11.724 --> 00:45:13.849
How do you prepare to lead?

00:45:13.849 --> 00:45:17.284
Not just prepare to be in charge, not just prepare to hold the benefits of a title.

00:45:17.284 --> 00:45:17.789
How do you prepare to lead?

00:45:17.789 --> 00:45:18.385
Not just prepare to be in charge, not just prepare to hold the benefits of a title.

00:45:18.385 --> 00:45:19.565
How do you prepare to lead?

00:45:20.920 --> 00:45:24.351
Three things, real simple, and Queen of Kitties found it, but I'm going to break it down real quick.

00:45:24.351 --> 00:45:27.188
First thing is you have to begin by following.

00:45:27.188 --> 00:45:29.086
You need to follow a leader.

00:45:29.086 --> 00:45:34.652
If you want to lead, but to have not do, have not been properly led, you will not lead well.

00:45:34.652 --> 00:45:39.420
The second one is know why you want to be a leader.

00:45:39.420 --> 00:45:44.280
If you want to be a leader so that you can be in charge, you might want to check that, check it.

00:45:44.280 --> 00:45:48.612
You might want to check that, uh, that, that, that won't, that won't last long.

00:45:48.612 --> 00:45:49.983
So you need to know why.

00:45:49.983 --> 00:45:52.248
And then you need to determine the who.

00:45:52.248 --> 00:45:53.952
In other words, who are you in it for?

00:45:53.952 --> 00:45:54.793
Are you in it for you?

00:45:54.793 --> 00:45:55.215
Are you in it for?

00:45:55.215 --> 00:45:56.117
Are you in it for you?

00:45:56.117 --> 00:45:57.159
Are you in it for other people?

00:45:57.159 --> 00:46:05.762
If you haven't followed a leader if you are unsure of your why and if you're really in it for yourself, you need to stop.

00:46:07.005 --> 00:46:13.514
Stop pursuing leadership yeah stop listen it'll it'll crush you.

00:46:14.135 --> 00:46:17.226
It's not for you right now yes, it's not for you.

00:46:17.407 --> 00:46:22.369
Yeah, at this moment right at this moment because I think so.

00:46:22.369 --> 00:46:23.193
There's so many things.

00:46:23.193 --> 00:46:30.393
I'm gonna go back to the, the ladder versus the circle, um, because I think that that's what trips scar up.

00:46:30.594 --> 00:46:46.742
Yeah, is that he was so focused on looking at the top of that ladder that he never looked around Right, and so he wasn't building what was going to go around him as king, he was just building what he saw up there was him sitting at the top.

00:46:46.742 --> 00:46:56.208
Yes, right, and I think that there's so many areas of our life where we build the picture that we see that but not the whole puzzle.

00:46:56.208 --> 00:47:05.867
Like you're focused on one piece, like I can't wait till I get this piece, wait till I, wait till I get this piece, and you get the piece, but you're not aware that it's just a piece.

00:47:05.867 --> 00:47:06.548
It's just a piece.

00:47:06.548 --> 00:47:20.331
It's just a piece and you have made this piece, the entire picture, when there are 500 other pieces to the puzzle that that you now are responsible for because you put yourself at the top, right.

00:47:20.331 --> 00:47:25.333
So he made all these promises of hey, listen, you know, be prepared.

00:47:25.333 --> 00:47:26.222
And that be prepared song.

00:47:26.222 --> 00:47:29.344
He was like hey, listen, come with me, you'll never be hungry again.

00:47:29.344 --> 00:47:29.826
Yeah, that's it.

00:47:29.865 --> 00:47:30.547
That's what he said.

00:47:30.568 --> 00:47:34.083
That's what he said I'm going to give y'all all the power, all the joy.

00:47:34.083 --> 00:47:38.726
It's going to be a great time, you know, especially, he was talking to a disgruntled people.

00:47:38.726 --> 00:47:43.632
There you go, who are you talking to and what are you appealing to in them?

00:47:43.632 --> 00:47:44.552
That's right, right.

00:47:44.552 --> 00:47:50.121
If the only way you sorry, it'll take you back, it'll take you back, I promise you.

00:47:50.121 --> 00:48:04.168
If the only way that you are able to gain leadership is by pulling on, uh, on the dissatisfaction of people, and you make these promises, that I will make you.

00:48:04.168 --> 00:48:07.434
I will make you happier, and not I will make you better.

00:48:07.434 --> 00:48:07.793
Yeah.

00:48:07.940 --> 00:48:10.927
If that's the promise you're making as a leader.

00:48:11.289 --> 00:48:14.146
Let me tell you something Go ahead and pack that on up.

00:48:14.146 --> 00:48:14.708
Pack it up.

00:48:14.708 --> 00:48:25.621
You are not, first of of all, if a people is already dissatisfied, meaning that they are not already seeking answers to their own problems, but they are.

00:48:25.621 --> 00:48:32.659
They are content with laying in in, uh, with laying in the confusion of their complaints.

00:48:32.659 --> 00:48:45.065
Yeah right, like they like the comfort of complaining and you say that's who you want to be king of, that's who you want to lead, that's who you want to influence, that's who you want to put in position.

00:48:45.065 --> 00:49:00.282
Let me tell you something, baby, you are building an empire that will remain dissatisfied with anything that you do, and that's why Scar found himself in a place where you fought so hard to become this person that still nobody likes.

00:49:00.282 --> 00:49:03.052
Yeah right, they still don't like you.

00:49:03.132 --> 00:49:06.661
That's right they didn't like you when you was over there in the elephant bones.

00:49:06.661 --> 00:49:07.766
They don't like you.

00:49:07.766 --> 00:49:09.726
When you king, they don't like you.

00:49:09.800 --> 00:49:24.184
They don't like you Even the people that you brought with you now, don't like you and they don't respect you and they don't like you and they don't respect you and they don't respect you because, however you go about getting those positions you will have, you're gonna, you're not gonna be able to break that personality with people.

00:49:24.184 --> 00:49:30.885
No, you know what I'm saying and so I think it's so important when we think about, uh, the be prepared.

00:49:30.885 --> 00:49:36.173
You know, like you have to be mindful of what you're preparing for.

00:49:36.173 --> 00:49:36.974
Yeah, right, and I think you know.

00:49:36.974 --> 00:49:39.639
One of the most obvious examples to me is you know they tell, like you have to be mindful of what you're preparing for.

00:49:39.639 --> 00:49:48.213
Yeah, right, and I think you know one of the most obvious examples to me is you know they tell people, don't focus so much on the wedding as you do the marriage, the union, the marriage, the life.

00:49:48.213 --> 00:49:49.442
Amen, you're not.

00:49:49.523 --> 00:49:51.369
You're not, you know, planning a wedding.

00:49:51.369 --> 00:50:04.086
You're building a life together, a life together, um, and I think that we get, um, we get so caught up in, we get so caught up in the thing that we want.

00:50:04.086 --> 00:50:07.155
You know I'm, um, you know, elder, millennial over here.

00:50:07.155 --> 00:50:10.045
All right, don't need to keep putting out ages.

00:50:10.045 --> 00:50:20.902
You know 38, but no need to keep putting out ages, you know, but like I could, I could take marriage and see it as I can, make that my end goal.

00:50:20.902 --> 00:50:25.893
You know, like, hey, I just I gotta get to it, I got, I gotta have it, I gotta have it.

00:50:25.893 --> 00:50:36.547
But you are going to find yourself, um, you're going to find yourself with that thing and still feeling the same feelings that you feel on the side.

00:50:36.547 --> 00:50:39.989
That's it, because you have to question.

00:50:40.300 --> 00:50:47.226
I think now is a good time, middle adults, now is a good time when you think about the song Be Prepared.

00:50:47.226 --> 00:50:52.186
It's time to question ourselves what have we been preparing for?

00:50:52.186 --> 00:50:54.621
Have you been preparing for a wedding?

00:50:54.621 --> 00:50:55.983
Have you been preparing for a marriage?

00:50:55.983 --> 00:50:56.222
That's good.

00:50:56.222 --> 00:50:57.063
Have you been preparing for a wedding?

00:50:57.063 --> 00:50:58.425
Have you been preparing for a marriage?

00:50:58.425 --> 00:50:58.925
That's good.

00:50:58.925 --> 00:51:03.690
Have you been preparing for true leadership, or have you been preparing for a position?

00:51:03.690 --> 00:51:05.913
Have you been preparing for a title?

00:51:05.913 --> 00:51:09.277
Or have you been preparing for calling, assignment and purpose?

00:51:09.277 --> 00:51:10.460
Yep, right.

00:51:10.460 --> 00:51:28.260
And I think now is just a really good time for us to really question that, so that we can make the necessary pivots, so that we live a life that's still impactful and influential and we don't end up running away from it like somebody.

00:51:28.541 --> 00:51:28.983
Look at you.

00:51:28.983 --> 00:51:30.679
Look at you, I'm full of transition.

00:51:30.679 --> 00:51:36.644
Look at you with the pivots I'm full of them, come on, I'm full of them, come on, let's take that.

00:51:36.686 --> 00:51:42.253
turn them, let's take that turn let's go ahead and take that turn, let's take that turn because Simba ran away.

00:51:42.353 --> 00:51:43.199
Simba was scared.

00:51:43.199 --> 00:51:45.840
Let's give Simba some credit.

00:51:45.840 --> 00:52:01.652
Simba saw his daddy die and Simba said uh, uh, uh, uh, no, I ain't gonna be me, I'm gonna go and so, and I think grief took him.

00:52:02.012 --> 00:52:02.960
You know there's a.

00:52:02.960 --> 00:52:04.344
I mean let's, can we just?

00:52:04.344 --> 00:52:16.934
I mean going back when I'm like going back to watching that I it wasn't until I was older watching it like don't, I began to be uncomfortable with that scene.

00:52:16.934 --> 00:52:23.405
Like I said, I don't, I don't want to see this Like this is.

00:52:23.405 --> 00:52:27.365
This is like yeah, like it's hard to watch that.

00:52:27.365 --> 00:52:32.141
It's hard, you know you, and it's like man, that is some heavy.

00:52:32.563 --> 00:52:53.554
going back to what we said, this is why this movie is so, because the heaviness of that moment I mean he, his father, was killed by his brother and his son saw it and well, he saw him die and see, you killed him, but he did see him die, yeah, and you know, and it's like, what does a child do?

00:52:53.554 --> 00:52:55.804
What, what, what?

00:52:55.804 --> 00:52:57.228
We trauma, what do you?

00:52:57.228 --> 00:52:58.672
What is the first thing you do?

00:52:58.672 --> 00:53:11.114
You run, you find, you find a way to escape, and so what, but I think it's, it's so critical that we go back.

00:53:11.300 --> 00:53:26.132
It may not have happened like that for us, but you have to go back and say where in my life did trauma cause me to run, Like something in me escaped, ran, built up structures.

00:53:26.132 --> 00:53:29.565
You know, like they say, like you have the fight or flight.

00:53:29.565 --> 00:53:37.449
Some of us are fighting through what others may have ran from and you feel better about yourself because you fought it.

00:53:37.449 --> 00:53:40.168
Sure, but really you did not fight the thing.

00:53:40.168 --> 00:53:47.427
You built up structures, mentalities, personalities that are still trying to protect you from what happened.

00:53:47.969 --> 00:53:48.369
That's it.

00:53:48.610 --> 00:53:50.500
That's right, you're you're, that's it.

00:53:50.500 --> 00:53:51.382
Yeah, you're you're.

00:53:51.382 --> 00:54:01.896
We have different ways of escape, like, there's different methods of it and it looks different for everybody, but it's the, the, the, the.

00:54:01.896 --> 00:54:05.246
The ultimate point is we don't, we don't sit in.

00:54:05.246 --> 00:54:08.070
Nobody wants to sit in that kind of tragedy and trauma.

00:54:08.070 --> 00:54:11.347
So our first inclination is to go.

00:54:11.347 --> 00:54:15.447
So we go, go away, like, and he physically just ran away.

00:54:15.981 --> 00:54:24.248
And so I think it's important to know what your tendencies are Like when you are um.

00:54:24.248 --> 00:54:27.461
And here's what's interesting you put yourself in um.

00:54:27.461 --> 00:54:43.682
I think, for people who are leaders, who are positioned to lead and to lead well, when something happens that they don't expect, what do you do?

00:54:43.682 --> 00:54:46.086
What do you do?

00:54:46.086 --> 00:54:54.186
And for me, I was a runner, I'm a runner, I'm going to run and I'm going to escape and I'm going to go somewhere else.

00:54:54.186 --> 00:55:04.576
And for, like, for me, I ran away from leadership for years because I just had no interest in um.

00:55:04.576 --> 00:55:29.565
I didn't want to be, I didn't want to be in the spotlight, I didn't want to be seen, I wanted to hide when I wanted to hide, and so for for a long time, even though it was, it was clearer to other people, I found my way around leadership somehow, and it didn't look bad.

00:55:29.565 --> 00:55:38.467
Simba didn't run into, he didn't go and get on drugs, he went to paradise.

00:55:38.467 --> 00:55:42.429
He went to a land where he could do what he wanted to do.

00:55:42.931 --> 00:55:43.291
Goodness.

00:55:43.291 --> 00:55:54.634
He went and he found friends he found a community, there's always going to be somebody that's going to support you, not rising up to who you're actually supposed to be.

00:55:54.840 --> 00:55:57.280
But he didn't know, they didn't know they didn't know.

00:55:57.320 --> 00:56:00.228
They didn't know that because they were thinking about what he could do for them.

00:56:00.228 --> 00:56:02.625
Yeah, there's like hey yo, we need a lion on us.

00:56:02.625 --> 00:56:04.364
You know what I'm saying?

00:56:04.364 --> 00:56:16.230
We're prey out here to have a, to have the king of the jungle rolling with us, and there are people in your life who know that without you they would be eaten, wow.

00:56:16.230 --> 00:56:20.565
And so they keep you in low places to protect themselves.

00:56:21.548 --> 00:56:26.764
You said something in the in the uh when we were meeting earlier about this idea of um.

00:56:26.764 --> 00:56:31.311
He was able to be in his gift but not in position.

00:56:31.351 --> 00:56:31.813
There you go.

00:56:31.813 --> 00:56:34.360
Yeah, he's in his gift, but not in his assignment.

00:56:34.360 --> 00:56:38.483
Because he's, because he's still a lion, except for now he's digging up bugs.

00:56:38.483 --> 00:56:40.324
Yeah, and so what's in you?

00:56:40.324 --> 00:57:11.384
If you are a leader, you will find yourself in some sort of position, but you can be in a position, but still out of position.

00:57:11.384 --> 00:57:18.735
You can be in a role, you can be in a place, operating in a function, but not where you're supposed to be.

00:57:18.735 --> 00:57:21.005
That's right, because what's in you?

00:57:21.005 --> 00:57:22.550
The Bible says.

00:57:23.684 --> 00:57:29.192
The Bible says, the Bible says okay, that the gift is given without repentance.

00:57:29.192 --> 00:57:44.400
That means, regardless of what state I'm in really like, regarding where my character I'm in really like, regarding where my character, where, where, where I have positioned myself, regardless of what state I'm in and where I'm positioned, my gift can still operate.

00:57:44.400 --> 00:57:51.132
Yeah, and so his gift of of being a lion, of of hunting and and and leading.

00:57:51.132 --> 00:57:55.851
He became a leader of these two people who were you know what I'm saying.

00:57:55.851 --> 00:57:58.181
And so that's where Akuna Matata comes.

00:57:58.181 --> 00:58:03.271
You know, I'm the king of no worries, I'm the king of no cares.

00:58:03.271 --> 00:58:13.204
You know, I'm the king of, and when you think about it, ruth Abigail, everything that he sang about, and I just, oh, I just can't wait to be king.

00:58:13.304 --> 00:58:14.668
He was able to do it.

00:58:14.728 --> 00:58:18.842
He got in paradise, that's good can't wait to be king.

00:58:18.842 --> 00:58:20.608
He was able to do it, he got in paradise, that's good and it's so easy to stay there.

00:58:20.608 --> 00:58:21.110
Nobody's saying be here.

00:58:21.110 --> 00:58:23.077
Nobody's saying do this, Nobody's saying do that.

00:58:23.077 --> 00:58:31.605
You know, everywhere I go, it's looking like and I'm having everything that I said I wanted, because I didn't understand what was going to what.

00:58:31.605 --> 00:58:33.972
Who I needed to become, you know I never made that connection.

00:58:33.972 --> 00:58:36.137
But who I needed to become, you know, I never made that connection.

00:58:38.141 --> 00:58:40.063
I just did.

00:58:40.063 --> 00:58:41.085
That's good man.

00:58:41.085 --> 00:58:42.206
No, that's true.

00:58:42.206 --> 00:58:53.983
You know, I always I said I probably said, since I started working, I never want to be an executive director and I never want to fundraise those two things.

00:58:53.983 --> 00:58:55.728
I would say that for years, I said it for years.

00:58:55.728 --> 00:59:10.248
And when I and I told Jill to fundraise those two things, I would say that for years, I said it for years.

00:59:10.248 --> 00:59:13.518
And I, when I and I told, I told Jill, you know, my uh, co-founder, um, and we and I always said she was like she would always say you know, well, I'm just keeping the seat warm is what she was saying.

00:59:13.518 --> 00:59:17.380
And I'm like I'm never gonna do that, like it's nothing I want to do.

00:59:17.380 --> 00:59:29.257
And the truth of the matter is, and the role I think I had, I was supposed to be in at the time, but I tell you it was a nice position, like it was a nice position.

00:59:29.277 --> 00:59:35.891
It was one of those things, that one of those positions in the field I'm in that many people don't get, um, I was very, very grateful to have it.

00:59:35.891 --> 00:59:37.213
I was very privileged to have it and I and I don't take, don't get.

00:59:37.213 --> 00:59:39.909
I was very, very grateful to have it, I was very privileged to have it and I don't take that for granted.

00:59:39.909 --> 00:59:42.934
But, man, was I comfortable, boy?

00:59:42.934 --> 00:59:50.996
I was comfortable, I was comfortable and I'll never forget that I was.

00:59:50.996 --> 00:59:57.550
Actually my father was getting an honorary doctorate at a school in Pennsylvania, random.

00:59:57.550 --> 01:00:02.061
We all went and we were staying in this person's house.

01:00:02.061 --> 01:00:12.400
I was asleep, I was in my bed and the Lord, literally just I remember I was taking a nap.

01:00:12.400 --> 01:00:16.842
I woke up and I said, oh, I think it's time.

01:00:16.842 --> 01:00:25.728
And I called Jill in Pennsylvania in a bed after a nap and said I think I'm, I think.

01:00:27.748 --> 01:00:31.070
I'm ready.

01:00:31.070 --> 01:00:37.173
I, as we all know, I think I've told the story before I'm in college, I was a psych major.

01:00:37.173 --> 01:00:44.657
I was struggling as a psych major and I remember the night the Lord told me I needed to change my major to religion.

01:00:44.657 --> 01:00:50.905
I was heartbroken, I was stressed out, Do you hear me?

01:00:50.905 --> 01:00:58.034
I, in my very melodramatic way, got my keys, went to my car, drove around campus.

01:00:58.034 --> 01:00:59.726
I drove to the chapel.

01:00:59.726 --> 01:01:02.989
I told the Lord I don't want to be a pastor.

01:01:02.989 --> 01:01:11.168
I don't know why you're making me change my religion my religion, not my religion, my religion, my major to religion.

01:01:11.168 --> 01:01:16.449
But I was crying, I was boohoo crying in that car, saying I don't want to be a pastor.

01:01:17.360 --> 01:01:18.101
I go to divinity school.

01:01:18.101 --> 01:01:20.931
I tell all my friends hey, I'm here Cause the Lord told me to be here.

01:01:20.931 --> 01:01:22.804
I'm not a minister, that's y'all's gig.

01:01:22.804 --> 01:01:28.246
And they're all looking at me like you are the most obvious minister there is Right.

01:01:28.246 --> 01:01:38.099
Like you are, like girl, what are you talking about, Right?

01:01:38.099 --> 01:01:38.722
I finally, I give in to the end.

01:01:38.722 --> 01:01:39.222
It took me, I graduated.

01:01:39.222 --> 01:01:39.643
Uh, I give in to the.

01:01:39.643 --> 01:01:40.184
It took me, I graduated.

01:01:40.184 --> 01:01:43.992
I graduated divinity school with a master of divinity still telling people I ain't want to be a minister.

01:01:43.992 --> 01:01:46.188
I graduated in 2012.

01:01:46.188 --> 01:01:47.907
I got licensed in 2019.

01:01:47.907 --> 01:01:52.351
And it's because one day I woke up and the Lord said it's time to get off the bench.

01:01:52.351 --> 01:02:01.429
And I told that to my pastor and the next thing I know, the next thing I know you off the bench, the next thing I know I was here are the requirements for becoming a minister.

01:02:01.429 --> 01:02:04.224
I was like, yep, I didn't know that.

01:02:04.224 --> 01:02:05.507
I didn't even know that's what that meant.

01:02:05.507 --> 01:02:07.521
I didn't even know that's what the Lord.

01:02:07.521 --> 01:02:10.003
But I was like, yeah, yeah, yeah.

01:02:10.063 --> 01:02:11.485
I need to get, I need to get off the bench.

01:02:11.485 --> 01:02:31.760
You just, you get it's, it's's, you just, it just happens, yeah, a lot of times, and I think I, I, so I, if you're, if you're out, if you're like you know, if you're comfortable and you're in paradise, and you're like, hey, I'm chilling, like I'm like I'm and I'm thriving, it's like I don't have no reason to leave.

01:02:31.760 --> 01:02:33.663
Why would I leave, like, why would I leave?

01:02:33.663 --> 01:02:34.403
But you know, why would I leave?

01:02:34.403 --> 01:02:39.050
But you know something and I think you know this is, you know, I'm gonna try this little pivot.

01:02:39.050 --> 01:02:52.083
Okay, I'm gonna try this little pivot when, when, uh, his, I did not, I'm not doing it as well as you, I can't do it, but but what?

01:02:52.083 --> 01:02:56.010
And reminded him who he was, who he was yeah.

01:02:56.791 --> 01:03:04.931
She reminded him of his purpose and she had been his partner from the beginning.

01:03:04.931 --> 01:03:09.306
And she came back around, she spun the block.

01:03:09.306 --> 01:03:12.869
Listen, listen now.

01:03:12.869 --> 01:03:13.780
And she said come here.

01:03:13.780 --> 01:03:27.059
No, no, as she said, come here listen, listen, okay, okay that's what she said.

01:03:28.454 --> 01:03:47.130
I'll take it listen if you haven't guessed who we're talking about, we're talking about the one and only Nyla, alright, the one who looked at him like Look here, buddy, look here, she immediately came in and she was like hey me.

01:03:48.400 --> 01:03:51.409
Put your tail back, get back here.

01:03:51.670 --> 01:03:53.481
Okay, I don't know.

01:03:53.481 --> 01:03:56.666
First of all, nobody even knew you was out here, right, okay, right, you out here.

01:03:56.666 --> 01:03:57.998
Right, okay, right, you out here.

01:03:57.998 --> 01:04:02.728
You know, I'm saying he was living the life of.

01:04:02.728 --> 01:04:04.972
He was living the life.

01:04:04.972 --> 01:04:06.740
He was back, he was on the ladder.

01:04:06.740 --> 01:04:16.833
I'm telling you, he was on the ladder, he was on, he was, he was looking out for himself, he was, he was focused internally on himself.

01:04:16.833 --> 01:04:23.012
Yes, and she was like, okay, well, while you've been out here in paradise, you're a grown man now.

01:04:23.032 --> 01:04:30.800
Yeah, we've been dying like everything that your daddy built, yep, everything that, everything that he, he, he founded and he covered.

01:04:30.800 --> 01:04:32.262
We don't have a covering.

01:04:32.262 --> 01:04:43.574
Yes, and your raggedy uncle, uncle is out here leading us, yes, and your mama, yeah, come get your mama Right, come get your mama.

01:04:43.574 --> 01:04:47.434
Somebody had to.

01:04:47.434 --> 01:04:47.998
You know what?

01:04:47.998 --> 01:04:49.947
This is real disrespectful.

01:04:49.947 --> 01:04:52.266
That boy lost his daddy and forgot he even had a mama.

01:04:52.286 --> 01:04:53.260
They just left his mama.

01:04:53.260 --> 01:04:56.219
I know Left his mama, golly Like dang.

01:04:56.219 --> 01:04:57.048
That's terrible, but Sarabi can handle herself though.

01:04:57.048 --> 01:04:57.005
They just left his mama.

01:04:57.005 --> 01:04:57.132
I know Left his mama, golly my dang.

01:04:57.132 --> 01:04:59.748
That's terrible, but Sarabi can handle herself though.

01:04:59.800 --> 01:05:05.146
Let's just be real, sarabi can handle herself, the one thing Sarabi can do okay is that what she say?

01:05:05.186 --> 01:05:05.909
Yes, Scar.

01:05:07.960 --> 01:05:12.510
Listen, listen but see we find out in Mufasa what that real relationship was.

01:05:12.510 --> 01:05:14.967
But nevertheless, we ain't no movie spoilers.

01:05:14.967 --> 01:05:19.003
Okay, but shit was, but nevertheless, we ain't no movie spoilers.

01:05:19.003 --> 01:05:19.885
Okay, but go see mufasa, it's a good movie.

01:05:19.885 --> 01:05:22.409
It's a good movie, um, but yeah, but you know, you got, you have to have somebody.

01:05:22.409 --> 01:05:35.367
And this is where I think it starts to become clear to him who he had partnered with for which seasons of his life and how he was going to navigate that moving forward.

01:05:35.367 --> 01:05:54.987
But he could not move forward until Rafiki came back, that's right and reminded him of who his daddy was yes, that's it, come on and pointed him back to the template of who he was to become, because I felt like we hadn't talked about Rafiki yet.

01:05:54.987 --> 01:05:56.009
And that's my favorite character.

01:05:56.009 --> 01:05:56.831
We haven't, we haven't.

01:05:58.681 --> 01:05:58.862
I'm sorry.

01:05:58.862 --> 01:06:00.699
I kind of flashed back to a previous episode that if you haven't watched.

01:06:00.699 --> 01:06:01.878
We talk about Remember the Titans.

01:06:01.878 --> 01:06:03.893
You know that part where they say who's your daddy, gary?

01:06:03.893 --> 01:06:10.159
Who's your daddy you are that's right.

01:06:11.389 --> 01:06:16.048
I was like to be honest, that part sorry, I know we're not supposed to be talking about Remember the Titans, but that part actually scared me.

01:06:16.048 --> 01:06:16.275
I was like they gonna kill Denzel, they.

01:06:16.275 --> 01:06:17.230
To be honest, that part sorry, I know we're not supposed to be talking about Remember the Titans, but that part actually scared me.

01:06:17.230 --> 01:06:29.253
I was like they're going to kill Denzel Because if everybody around him heard what he was saying to them boys, I was like he bold, he bold.

01:06:29.273 --> 01:06:40.987
But I think that's so key, that idea of remembering who you are, remembering who you are designed to be, and but it's it's.

01:06:40.987 --> 01:06:44.677
It's not about you, it's what you're connected to, that reminds you about that?

01:06:44.717 --> 01:06:46.561
yeah, and so it's.

01:06:46.721 --> 01:06:53.146
I think this is also again going back to the like, like um, um, making a full, if you will.

01:06:53.146 --> 01:06:55.807
She's so proud of herself.

01:06:59.451 --> 01:07:00.592
That's what's getting me.

01:07:00.771 --> 01:07:02.494
Everything is connected.

01:07:02.494 --> 01:07:06.936
Like everything is connected, you are not disconnected from your past.

01:07:06.936 --> 01:07:18.853
Yeah, you're not disconnected from the people who have come before you and you're not disconnected to the creator who put what's in you in you anyway, the creator Right.

01:07:19.099 --> 01:07:33.813
But also I think it was important because he disconnected, because he was holding shame, yeah, and, and shame and guilt disconnects us from purpose and destiny.

01:07:33.813 --> 01:07:35.943
That's good, because we will.

01:07:35.943 --> 01:07:44.826
If you are, if you are allowing yourself to be ruled by those emotions, you will find that that puts you in a.

01:07:44.826 --> 01:07:50.047
He was walking in a circle, but it was a circle that wasn't connected to the circle.

01:07:50.047 --> 01:08:04.170
He wasn't connected to the bigger picture, because his picture became the shame and guilt that he felt, yeah, and so he built his life around that, yeah, and that's what fortified the grief, yeah.

01:08:04.170 --> 01:08:06.713
Oh, sorry, I thought you was going to pick that up, oh no, no.

01:08:07.541 --> 01:08:12.210
I think it's, I think, I think I think kind of one of.

01:08:12.471 --> 01:08:27.194
One of the last points I think we want to hit is that when you think about Simba's life and his leadership, his leadership was so intertwined with who he was connected with and what they were kind of reinforcing.

01:08:27.194 --> 01:08:40.875
Are the ideologies that they were reinforcing in his life Correct, right, you know, like his identity as a lion was depicted by who was telling him what a lion was or what a king was?

01:08:40.875 --> 01:08:49.635
Yeah, and so you know, they all were protecting this version of him that they had grown attached to.

01:08:49.635 --> 01:09:06.113
Yeah, and so I think that there's such a pivotal moment where Simba comes to the comes to the realization of who he's going to be, and he starts naming himself, naming his own identity and claiming his identity.

01:09:06.113 --> 01:09:15.725
He lays claim on who he is, and so, you know, the question becomes you know, because after that, you know, can you feel the love the night with him and Nala?

01:09:15.725 --> 01:09:22.984
That was really a grown up song, okay, if you go back and look at the lyrics, Okay, it wasn't explicit.

01:09:23.166 --> 01:09:26.068
It was not what five year old understood that.

01:09:26.780 --> 01:09:29.487
No, nobody, it wasn't for them, it was for their parents.

01:09:29.739 --> 01:09:30.623
Yeah, it was for the parents.

01:09:30.703 --> 01:09:34.770
It said go back and y'all go find the love, go find it, go feel the love.

01:09:35.250 --> 01:09:36.591
Not Disney healing marriages.

01:09:36.591 --> 01:09:44.904
Disney said, yeah, we're going to heal the households with this one.

01:09:44.904 --> 01:09:47.706
You know, protect the family, Focus on the family.

01:09:47.706 --> 01:10:01.056
But nevertheless, when he left to go pursue who he really was Timon and Timon and Pumbaa I don't know why I struggled.

01:10:01.056 --> 01:10:09.925
I'm saying it right all day and then I get here and it's like man, but they had a decision to make about who they were going to be in his life from that point forward.

01:10:10.405 --> 01:10:16.065
And I think what do you do with the relationships you had when you pivot?

01:10:16.065 --> 01:10:25.774
You Like you have to be mindful of how people set themselves up in your life after the pivot, because we lose friends in this change.

01:10:25.774 --> 01:10:26.301
That's right.

01:10:26.301 --> 01:10:34.105
We lose friends when we decide to be who we really are and go after the things that God has for us and we are resettled.

01:10:34.105 --> 01:10:43.515
And and God, when the Bible says that he takes us out of the pit and puts us on a rock, what are the people who were in the pit with you doing?

01:10:43.515 --> 01:10:46.122
Did anybody else decide to come up on the rock?

01:10:46.122 --> 01:10:57.689
And you have to be mindful of where people are, because they are physically still talking to you and they are physically still engaging with you, but you have to know where their heart is.

01:10:57.689 --> 01:10:59.993
Are they in the pit or are they?

01:11:00.054 --> 01:11:03.265
on the rock and that's not for you to decide.

01:11:03.265 --> 01:11:06.252
Yeah, that's for them to decide.

01:11:06.252 --> 01:11:23.989
It's for you to discern, it's for them to decide and you, you, you continue, you have to, you have to continue to be where you need to be and understand that if they decide to move forward with you, great, but you can't allow their decision to keep you from moving forward.

01:11:23.989 --> 01:11:29.572
Yeah, and I think that's what you saw there, right?

01:11:29.572 --> 01:11:30.983
You know Timon and Pumbaa.

01:11:30.983 --> 01:11:35.773
Timon, specifically, he was like uh-oh, we're going to lose our boy.

01:11:35.773 --> 01:11:37.141
Yeah, we're going to lose our friend, we're going to lose our protection.

01:11:37.141 --> 01:11:37.306
Oh, we're gonna lose our boy.

01:11:37.306 --> 01:11:38.512
Yeah, we're gonna lose our friend, we're gonna lose our protection.

01:11:38.512 --> 01:11:39.795
We're gonna lose our lion.

01:11:39.795 --> 01:11:41.115
What we gonna do?

01:11:41.917 --> 01:11:50.319
and and they, they followed him right um and they wanted to still be a part of the journey with him.

01:11:50.359 --> 01:12:01.260
But everybody won't do that but I also think, you know, I think it's such a great visual because you know people say there are people waiting on you to get in position.

01:12:01.260 --> 01:12:02.923
You know there are.

01:12:02.923 --> 01:12:06.230
There are nations of people that are waiting for you.

01:12:06.230 --> 01:12:06.972
That's what they say.

01:12:07.561 --> 01:12:08.886
Yeah, yeah, people be saying that.

01:12:09.581 --> 01:12:10.543
I mean literally.

01:12:10.543 --> 01:12:13.671
They're like they found their worries in their cares.

01:12:13.671 --> 01:12:20.951
You know, they found something to be passionate about, a way that they can contribute.

01:12:20.951 --> 01:12:28.789
When they were in paradise, they were not in the circle, they were not contributing to the greater picture.

01:12:28.789 --> 01:12:33.011
It was them, Simba and the bugs.

01:12:33.011 --> 01:12:34.222
You know what I'm saying?

01:12:34.222 --> 01:12:35.185
Because the lion was eating bugs.

01:12:35.185 --> 01:12:39.877
Yep, you know what I'm saying Bugs, Because the lion was eating bugs.

01:12:39.877 --> 01:12:41.765
He was he tried to offer that to Nyla.

01:12:42.279 --> 01:12:44.788
She was like bruh come home.

01:12:46.180 --> 01:12:51.251
You know this is a prodigal son now Slimy yet satisfying, you know?

01:12:51.251 --> 01:12:52.824
No, it made no sense, it's gross.

01:12:52.824 --> 01:12:55.365
It made no sense Like he used to eat zebras.

01:12:55.365 --> 01:13:00.786
Right, right, yeah you know, the antelope is not the bug, you know.

01:13:00.786 --> 01:13:11.603
But you getting in position is going to have everything to do with who you're aligned with Absolutely, and you have, you have to be aware, you have to be aware.

01:13:11.903 --> 01:13:27.734
And I think the movie ends because Simba has learned all the lessons and he has developed in the ways that he has accepted the real weight of the crown and not just the glory of it.

01:13:27.734 --> 01:13:29.435
He accepted the weight.

01:13:29.435 --> 01:13:32.377
A lot of times we accept the glory but we don't accept the weight.

01:13:32.377 --> 01:13:32.818
That's right.

01:13:32.818 --> 01:13:42.832
He accepted the weight of it and he was then able to defeat what tried to defeat him, which was Scar, just to be clear.

01:13:46.542 --> 01:13:47.565
And there you have it, folks.

01:13:48.140 --> 01:13:48.762
There you have it.

01:13:49.125 --> 01:13:49.768
The Lion King.

01:13:50.680 --> 01:13:52.563
Man Well done Listen.

01:13:52.563 --> 01:13:53.929
Well done Listen.

01:13:55.180 --> 01:13:56.365
That movie was deep.

01:13:56.365 --> 01:13:56.943
Well done, it was deep.

01:13:56.943 --> 01:13:57.225
It well done.

01:13:57.225 --> 01:14:00.542
Well done, it was deep, it really was like it was a deep movie.

01:14:00.542 --> 01:14:03.587
Uh, a lot, lot of lot of lessons.

01:14:03.587 --> 01:14:05.952
Um, it really hit home.

01:14:05.952 --> 01:14:11.591
You know, they really they understood the, the, the journey of the, of the people.

01:14:11.912 --> 01:14:17.229
They get it, you know, and to know that, that these movies were written in like the 80s and the 90s.

01:14:17.229 --> 01:14:24.779
You know, it's just kind of like you know they were really pulling from some real life experience.

01:14:24.779 --> 01:14:50.764
I would be interested and maybe for the next movie or the next things that we do, we can pull more context of what was happening in history at that time that these movies were written, context of what was happening in history at that time that these movies were written, because the way we're hearing we're we're reading the movie differently, because we're different, for sure, the way that we read it when we was eight in the 90s, yeah, man which, look, and if we were adults in the 90s, we would have seen it different.

01:14:51.386 --> 01:14:53.940
Because you have a different perspective, you're living a different life.

01:14:54.462 --> 01:15:00.853
Yeah, you know, but also because we're in leadership positions, we we look at it different Also, that that's right.

01:15:01.094 --> 01:15:04.287
Nevertheless, y'all listen thank y'all for hanging out with us.

01:15:04.287 --> 01:15:05.511
Thanks, guys.

01:15:05.511 --> 01:15:09.242
So, um, please, please, please, join our community.

01:15:09.242 --> 01:15:13.752
We, um, we love to have you, we love the growing community of unlearners.

01:15:13.752 --> 01:15:25.503
Uh, and, just be on the lookout, because we're we have some things that we are thinking about, um figuring out ways, better ways, to serve the community, bring the community together.

01:15:25.503 --> 01:15:32.145
So, in the near future, just be on the lookout for some cool, um updates of the unlearned podcast.

01:15:32.867 --> 01:15:36.514
Uh, so, but until then, y'all, um, like, share, subscribe.

01:15:36.514 --> 01:15:37.789
Don't keep this to yourself.

01:15:37.789 --> 01:15:42.868
Uh, if you're enjoying kind of reminiscing with us through these movies, share with somebody else.

01:15:42.868 --> 01:15:54.246
Um, and uh, and let's, let's help this thing grow, uh, and let's, uh, let's keep unlearning together, y'all, so we can experience come on, finish it.

01:15:54.305 --> 01:15:56.333
Finish it so that we can experience more freedom.

01:15:56.333 --> 01:15:56.694
Come on, finish it.

01:15:56.694 --> 01:15:57.838
Finish it so that we can experience more freedom.

01:15:57.838 --> 01:15:58.681
Come on, come on.

01:15:58.681 --> 01:16:00.167
Peace, y'all Peace.

01:16:00.167 --> 01:16:08.828
Thank you once again for listening to the Unlearned Podcast.

01:16:08.828 --> 01:16:12.989
We would love to hear your comments and your feedback about the episode.

01:16:12.989 --> 01:16:19.720
Feel free to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and to let us know what you think.

01:16:19.720 --> 01:16:26.064
We're looking forward to the next time when we are able to unlearn together to move forward towards freedom.

01:16:26.064 --> 01:16:26.967
See you then.