We All Need a Queen

The world is grieving this week. We’ve lost an icon, a leader most of us have been following our entire lives.

Through the good and the bad.

She was painted as the villain at times. The death of Princess Diana comes to mind.

But mostly she’s been the hero.

Her picture is on money and in classrooms. She has captivated the world for almost a century with her unfailing ability to stay steady.

Queen Elizabeth II was the rock. She was the poised and polished person who told the world things would be okay. She eased our grief. She calmed our nerves. She inspired us.

She saw her people through war and depression and pandemic. She worked with countless Prime Ministers and Presidents and other world leaders. She lived and led though the history we study in books. She is that history.

The world’s grandmother.

Much can, and will, be said about the constitutional monarchy. I’m a child of democracy. Much can, and will, will be said about modernizing. This is an opportunity.

But for now, we grieve and mourn and pay our respects.

We all need that person in our life who is steady and calm. A port in the storm. We need someone who we can count on to respond as predicted. There is something comforting about knowing how how a person will be.

Regardless of the political party in power, she stayed consistent. Through good times and bad, she stayed solid. Unflappable.

We need those people in our lives. We need those leaders in our lives. Gallup tells us that we need leaders to provide trust, stability, compassion, and hope. The Queen was the embodiment of stability.

She was a model of steadfastness for any of us who aspire to be effective leaders.

We all need a Queen.