As I look around in our community I often stop to ask myself, where have all the leaders gone?
We have become a cynical people. Politicians cannot be trusted; they simply want to get into power. The media behaves like a pack of rabid dogs looking to find skeletons in the closets of anyone who steps into a prominent leadership role. We glorify sports figures and movie stars, that is until they fall from grace. We are a cynical people.
Why would someone want to lead others in our society? What is in it for them?
Certainly they can count on being criticized. They can count on resistance. They can count on the fickle behavior of fair weather followers. They can count on failing before finally figuring out how to get it right.
So once again why would anyone want to lead in such a discouraging environment?
To those of us who do lead this is the wrong question. We have to lead; we can do no other thing. However this does not help those among us who may be a leader and not know it yet so back to the question.
If you love to learn, learn to lead. If you love to see a great purpose come to be, learn to lead. If you want to right a social injustice learn to lead. If you want to help people heal learn to lead.
The benefits of leadership cannot always be measured in monetary terms, nor can they be understood by words such as status or privilege. No the benefit is in the heart of a true leader, it resides in the knowing that good has been done today.
Lead well
Ron
1 user commented in " Where have all the leaders gone? "
Follow-up comment rss or Leave a TrackbackThe single greatest thing I’ve ever read about the process of selecting the leader of a government was in a science fiction novel, the name of which escapes me. The scenario that was drawn for the reader illustrated a world where the ruling body had realized that the greatest leaders available to them would NEVER consider running for office. They passed a law that made the greatest leadership position in their world a ‘draft’. The individual selected to lead for a term of office had to drop everything they were doing with their own life and serve out their term of office, with no option for resignation.
It was an amusing small bit of the story, but really made me wonder where all those great leaders are hiding, and how we could convince them that serving in a public position is not one of the seven deadly sins guaranteeing their seat of honor in hell.
If you’ve ever followed local government (I’m not religious about it), you will occasionally see the individual who is called upon when a leader resigns, is dismissed, or has the opportunity to be offered a prison term as an alternative housing option. These folks who are consistent, stable leaders in communities who are usually too smart to stick around for for long, but are the glue that keeps things running in the midst of chaos.
Maybe these folks could offer us some insight into how they ’serve’ in times of need, and how that quality might be transferred to others of their persuasion who remain cloaked in anonymity.
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