Running with the Bulls – The Heart of a Leader
- Misti Green
- Sep 2, 2025
- 3 min read
Updated: Oct 1, 2025
Every summer in Pamplona, Spain, crowds gather for a tradition as wild as it is dangerous: the Running of the Bulls.
It isn’t about outrunning or defeating the bulls. It’s about survival. It’s about understanding the force charging at you and moving in rhythm with it.
Leadership is a lot like that.
Whether you’re a coach, a parent, a teacher, a teenager just waking up to the world, or someone in a position of authority, life will put you in moments that demand more of you.
Moments that ask:
Will you flatten yourself to survive?
Or will you forge forward?
Claudette Colvin: Running Before It Was Safe
In 1955, long before marches filled streets or headlines covered civil rights, Claudette Colvin, a 15-year-old Black student in Alabama, refused to give up her seat on a segregated bus.
She was arrested. Humiliated. Ridiculed. Ignored.
But she stood her ground.
Later, Claudette explained her decision:
“My head was just too full of Black history, the oppression, the stories. I felt like Sojourner Truth was pushing down on one shoulder and Harriet Tubman was pushing down on the other.”
She was afraid, yes. But she was also anchored and anchored in truth. Anchored in justice and anchored in the power of knowing that silence would not save her—or anyone else.
Claudette had a choice. Flatten herself to survive, or rise, and run with the bulls.
She chose the run.
What Running Looks Like Today
And so do you.
To the teenager who sees the gap between what is and what could be.
To the teacher who stays after school to reach one more student.
To the parent who refuses to let a system write off their child.
To the coach who teaches more than sports.
To the leader who steps into the gap—not for applause, but for impact.
You are running with the bulls.
I know because I’ve been there.
As an inner-city teacher, I once received a certificate at the end of a grueling school year. It wasn’t shiny. It didn’t come with applause. But it meant more than any award I’d ever received.
It said: “You ran with the bulls.”
That was it. And it said everything.
They saw that I didn’t just show up to enforce rules. I showed up to meet real needs. Not just the rulebook - the real world. Not just performance - people.
That certificate told me what I hope to be every day: a runner, a builder, a force multiplier.
The Heart of Leadership
Leadership is knowing when to:
Run alongside the momentum.
Step aside and let others lead.
Take charge, not for control, but for change.
The world doesn’t need more critics. It needs runners. Builders. People are willing to run with conviction and compassion.
So I’ll ask you:
What causes move you?
What injustice can’t you unsee?
Where is your voice needed?
Because when the bulls come, when resistance, fear, or urgency thunder down your path—you need to be ready.
Rooted. Aware. Moving with purpose. Relentless in mission. Grounded in conviction.
Keep Running
Running with the bulls doesn’t mean fighting everything. It means moving forward—with courage, compassion, and clarity.
The world doesn’t need more noise. It needs you.
So keep running. Not alone, but alongside others who are bold enough to rise.
Stay bold. Stay rooted.
And keep running.
Listen to the, Running with the Bulls: Heart of a Leader podcast episode, here.
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