“You are not here merely to make a living. You are here in order to enable the world to live more amply, with greater vision, with a finer spirit of hope and achievement. You are here to enrich the world, and you impoverish yourself if you forget the errand” Woodrow Wilson.
When most people think of leadership, they naturally think of governments (at all levels), the monetary wealthy elites and corporate honchos. To a major degree, most of these people are members of the same 0.001% hierarchical club that controls the current global system and even they are controlled by an elusive global Cabal hiding in the shadows.
I have talked several times in this blog about leadership (search tag ‘Leadership’) and when I talk about new leadership arising, I am talking about grassroots leaders stepping into the breach created by the decentralization of the global system that is coming. It’s going to be messy, although I don’t think it is going to be a violent kind of revolution. What I believe is going to be very different in this sustainability revolution is that these new leaders will not want to be leaders, but will have all the skills and ability to lead by empowering people to make effective group decisions, and not by issuing orders about what to do. “A leader is best when people barely know they exist. When their work is done, their aims fulfilled, people will say: we did it ourselves.” —Lao Tzu
“I start with the premise that the function of leadership is to produce more leaders, not more followers” Ralph Nader. Everyone has talent, it sometimes just needs each of us to be receptive and willing to help it to be revealed in ourselves and everyone else. “I have this ability to find this hidden talent in people that sometimes even they didn’t know they had” Berry Gordy. And leadership will be gender-blind. The leaders of the future will be androgynous women and men sharing their skills and gender perspectives equally.
When I was in grad school taking classes in community education and development, I had one instructor who started one class with different kinds of children’s building toys. He put us into groups and then gave us 30 minutes to ‘build’ a model that represented community education with a community educator. There were all manner of structures, like pyramidal ones, skyscraper ones, and Eiffel Tower-like structures. Once done, the instructor had each group explain its model to the rest of the class. After all had done that, he then asked us to simply remove the Community educator (leader) part from the model. That was incredibly instructive. Most had built the educator piece into the structure of the model, so without the educator piece, the model fell apart. The successful models were those where the educator piece was merely within a complete model such that it being removed made no difference to the integrity of the community model. “Leadership is about making others better as a result of your presence and making sure that impact lasts in your absence” Frances Frei.
We have been so habituated to thinking of authoritative-transactional leadership (think military perspective), with its permanent or semi-permanent hierarchical structure, it is hard for most people us to think of alternate styles of leadership. In recent years, several models of different styles have arisen that are more than just the boss telling people what to do. Leadership Styles (see link) used today in business and politics exist such as transformational Leadership, delegative Leadership, authoritative Leadership, transactional Leadership, participative Leadership, and servant Leadership and all purport to make organizations efficient and more ‘competitive.’ It is this last part that I see will change most – the competitive aspect – it still promotes an us versus them mentality with winners and losers. That has been the central dogma of the hierarchical system since the patriarchal system took charge some 5000 plus years ago with its emphasis on scarcity. We have got to stop thinking of leaders as ‘the people in charge’ and that we actually lack basic essentials for living.
A real leader doesn’t shield you from negative things occurring, but like a good parent, teaches causes and effects but infuses mindfulness and discernment as ways to understand empowered thinking that develops creative solutions that are out-of-the-box. We keep ‘looking-for-superman,’ which is an attitude of the savior-victim mentality the hierarchy uses to keep us controlled. Imagine that instead of the savior or ‘the-one-leader’ who will save us, think about each of us being a leader in different ways and at different times within a community that practices cooperation and collaboration at all times. Some might call this anarchistic, which has a negative and weighted historic perspective played up by the current hierarchical system seeing it as a threat to their power structure. What I am proposing is not a political model but a different way of looking at the essence of leadership in a community, and not yet another national model of governance for some power-hungry sociopaths or psychopaths to take control.
How future society blossoms organically from such a community leadership model will be about personal sovereignty and community development and not yet another model of hierarchical top-down control of the populace. I like the idea presented by sci-fi writer Arthur C. Clarke in a novel where the leader of a planet was appointed for one year by a computer for their ability to get the job done. The computer algorithm removed anyone who was incapable of leading (for whatever reason) and any sociopaths and despotic personalities who wanted to be a leader. I’m not advocating this as a way to select leaders, but to emphasize that futures leaders will be regular people who don’t necessarily want to lead, just that the community recognizes those needed talents to ‘get the job done’ at any specific time, and works with these people to express their talents for the benefit of the community.
“Become the kind of leader that people would follow voluntarily, even if you had no title or position” Brian Tracy.
When it comes to choosing leaders, be very discerning. Avoid anyone who, even if they are charming, charismatic, and apparently knowledgeable, demand loyalty to their ideas. And then be even more cautious if they promote separation and/or speak to prejudices to keep their power. The last thing you need is a budding despot or a cultist that disempowers or threatens your personal sovereignty or that of anyone else. And let’s get past career politicians, no matter how good they might seem to be, most of the time, they aren’t. Just look at politics anywhere in the world at most levels and you can see just how corrupt the whole system has become. And this was not an accident.
I emphasize the discerning aspect further. While I was looking at quotes about leadership, I came across a couple that sound good on the surface, but when considered from a new leadership perspective, have a much darker aspect about them as they seem to promote authoritarian leadership, and that always has the threat of despotism about it. We have had millennia of that kind of leadership and don’t need to continue repeating it. These quotes: “Ninety percent of leadership is the ability to communicate something people want.” Dianne Feinstein, and, “A leader takes people where they want to go. A great leader takes people where they don’t necessarily want to go, but ought to be” Rosalynn Carter, sound noble but can make a group prone to propagandized narratives. An unscrupulous leader can manipulate people into accepting a vision that wasn’t theirs to begin with. This is why full involvement with the leadership process is critical for all members of a community – apathy cannot be an option.
“Leadership should be more participative than directive, more enabling than performing” Mary D. Poole. When building a new social system, people should be open and discussive about what they think they need. Indeed, when I was observing the CADISPA system (see A New Beginning – Part 6: Being Connected {February 2021}), the primary aim was for the community to understand and voice among themselves what they needed before the community educator even started to offer help, advice and information. People know their areas where they live much better than many ‘experts’ who are often blind to the nuances.
Once of the most paralyzing aspects about today’s society is the fear of failing. It’s one of the reasons people fear becoming leaders. But leaders are not meant to be infallible, they are meant to lead not dictate. “It’s okay to admit what you don’t know. It’s okay to ask for help. And it’s more than okay to listen to the people you lead–in fact, it’s essential” Mary Barra, and, “Do not be afraid to make decisions. Do not be afraid to make mistakes.” Carly Fiorina. “We can all be leaders at various times as the need arises. “Becoming a leader is synonymous with becoming yourself. It is precisely that simple and it is also that difficult.” Warren Bennis. Imagine a community of self-actualized people living in peace, unity and abundance. The future world we seek is that close and that simple.
“You need power, only when you want to do something harmful; otherwise, love is enough to get everything done” Charlie Chaplin.
To Be Continued …………..
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