915,103,765. I discovered this remarkable number earlier this year at the Lego House in Billund Denmark. Near the exit is an automated machine that melts, molds, and packages gifts of six red Lego blocks. On the wall, in bold black numbers, I see it for the first time. 915,103,765. Almost 1 billion. That is the number of possible combinations from just six red bricks.

Our unique experiences provide us each with a remarkable set of bricks for the future. I represent just one set, one collection of degrees and projects, skills and knowhow, relationships, wisdom, and empathy.

And the possibilities are endless.

There are few things so individual as a leader’s journey because leadership itself is about the constant reimagining of human needs and human potential. In our own personal leadership journeys, many of us have felt limited by challenging economics or personal twists and turns. At times we feel like we reached and came back with empty hands.

But our hands are not empty. We are leaders, entrepreneurs, and believers. We have the pieces of a bright future, even when difficulty mounts before us.

Right now, in our hands, we have what we need to foster collaboration between human workers and artificial intelligence, to manage supply chains of rockets en route to Mars, or to market entirely new products across the globe.

We do not have to be the engineer, scientist or graphic designer to make these things happen, but we must be the dreamers and managers, the organizers and strategists, who empower talented teams to start building. And, when things fail, to build again.

We gain so much in persevering. We form relationships and networks that are the foundations for reinventing the possible. My first consulting project at Amazon Web Services was only became possible because of my relationships with two outstanding peers and a simple 300-character message to an alumni from my business school who I’d never met before.

When we build with those around us, unexpected opportunities materialize before our eyes.

What will you build with your six red bricks? What impossible idea will come together in your hands?

Lay that first brick, build something new, and you will not only weather the storms ahead, but be the one who powers a city with hurricane winds.

One billion possibilities.

You have what you need.

Now build.

This article is an adaptation of the speech I gave at the commencement ceremony at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management on November 25, 2019. You can find my original speech at https://blog.frankfurt-school.de/six-red-bricks/