Bear The Weight, Do What's Right
Last week, I had the immense privilege of attending the State Opening of the Scottish Parliament and meeting Her Majesty The Queen. It was a remarkable occasion, one that I’ll remember for many reasons, but perhaps not for the one most people would expect.
As I looked through the photographs afterwards, I found myself thinking less about the image itself and more about a line from the Scottish Makar’s final poem:
“Bear the weight. Do what’s right.”
It struck me because, for me, those six words capture leadership better than almost anything else I’ve heard this year.
We often associate leadership with visibility. The titles, the awards, the milestones, the photographs that mark significant moments in a career. They are the things people see, and naturally they assume those are what give someone credibility.
The truth is rather different.
Those things may open a door, but they don’t determine what happens once you’re through it.
During my years as an airline captain, passengers didn’t know how many hours I’d flown, how many exams I’d passed or what sat on my CV. What they remembered was something much simpler. Did they feel safe? Did we communicate clearly when the unexpected happened? Did we make good decisions when the plan changed? Did we get them to where they needed to be?
I’ve come to realise that leadership works in exactly the same way. The experiences we collect matter because they shape us, but they are only valuable if they help us create confidence in others. If someone leaves a keynote saying, “That was inspiring,” I’ve only done part of my job. If they leave thinking differently, making better decisions weeks later, or leading their teams with greater clarity, that’s where the real impact begins.
It made me reflect on how often we measure ourselves by the things that are easiest to photograph, when the things that matter most rarely appear in the frame.
The conversations you have when no one else is listening. The difficult decisions made quietly. The trust built over time. The consistency you show when circumstances become challenging.
Those are the moments that earn credibility.