It takes two to tango. An expression that the Oxford Languages translates as “both parties involved in a situation or argument are equally responsible for it”. For me, this also has an extra meaning. As part of my ballroom dancing career, I have danced the tango a zillion times. In practice, you also dance it alone. To get your steps and posture right, to learn specific techniques and body movements, to understand your interpretation of the music and so on. 

Nevertheless, if you dance on a competitive level, the ultimate goal is to dance it together. And not just dance it, you perform it at the highest level you can. And that performance is an equal responsibility for both dancers. Only when you're melting together the excellence of both dancers, you will get a performance that is so exhilarating that it can touch your heart and make you cry. 

What happens on the dance floor also happens in daily life and at work. As individuals we have to learn what we like,what our interpretation is for instance love and success is, how we can use our strengths in order to get the best out of what we do and who we are. We try, we learn, we practice, we fail and we stand up. We get blisters and feel exhausted because of the hurdles we have to endure. But in the end, only by bringing all of this together with the people we love or the people we work with, all of that learning suddenly has meaning.

Dancing is also the perfect example that a leader is not more important than a follower. Leaders inspire, followers take that inspiration and elevate it to the next level. Traditionally in dance, the man is the leader and the woman is the follower. But, the woman is the one to watch! She is wearing a nice dress, the make up, she has the softness that a man can’t show. When the woman is able to show that softness in harmony with the man, we know that the man is doing his job. 

But we also see a different side in dance. Not only in equality dance, where two dancers of the same sex dance together, but also in the traditional dance form. Partners change their roles. The follower becomes the leader, the leader becomes the follower. It’s not about one being better than the other, it’s about how we can excel as a team. Leaders and followers together should always take in consideration how the team performs at their best. Therefore both leaders and followers have the responsibility to optimize their behavior so that everyone in the team can shine.