David Dodson - Conversation Catalyzing Remarks

 

 

Famous violinist Pinkus Zuckerman played a piece that was reviewed in the New York Times. The reviewer described his performance as technically perfect and went on to say that, "He showed us HOW the piece should be played but not WHY." Although his performance was technically perfect, it was lacking in passion. We need to turn back to the WHY of leadership because otherwise the HOW won't matter. How do we make ethical leadership infectious? Leadership that is grounded in community, in sharing, and in respect. Malcolm Gladwell, in his book The Tipping Point, looks at how ideas and information spreads. How do we create and urge the spread of leadership that emodies certain values? How do we move the kind of leadership that is ethical, that cares about people in humane ways?

 

This type of leadership is often at the margins. How do we get the leadership we stand for to the tables of power and help them to transform the tables of power? A lot of it has to do with understanding the nature of human beings and turning toward doing the right thing. Theologian, Reinhold Niebuhr wrote an important book called Children of Light, and Children of Darkness that explores human nature. Niebuhr emphasized the ambivalent character of human nature in one powerful sentence, "Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; man's propensity towards injustice makes democracy necessary."

 

How do we cultivate mankind's capacity for justice? What would leadership development look like if the "Why" of leadership or intent was to cultivate humanity's capacity for justice? Could it be that this leadership could usher in peace, a different education system, profound social change? We need leaders who culitvate hope instead of building on fear. Our leadership approach should be seen an a value investment and not an extraction. The extraction approach is based on entitlement rather than investment based on the future.

 

Michael Lerner recently wrote in Tikkun about the politics of hope vs. the politics of fear. Can you remember a time in history when we had a leader that inspired us to reach for something greater and noble? We have all heard the story about how you boil a frog. You put the frog in the water and you turn the heat up, very slowly. This serves as a possible analogy for the times we are living in and the type of leadership we have come to accept.

 

Parker Palmer, in his work Leading from Within, describes a leader as a person with an extraordinary ability to cast light or shadow. Leaders have a responsibility that comes with their leadership. They are able to set a tone that influences people/action. In his work he describes the most common shadows that leaders who are unaware may cast over their work. One is Functional Atheism, a sense that there are no other gods but me. If I don't do it, nobody else is capable of doing it. Another shadow is fear of chaos that can drive an effort to control others and things that can't be controlled. Some hold a conflict oriented view of the world and approach situations as a battleground.

 

What can we do to help people shed light instead of shadow? Are there strategies to help leaders who are embracing values of justice move from the edges of power closer to the center where they can effect systems change towards justice and away from the propensity toward injustice?

 

Ulelele Ahkola - We shall shed a bright light.


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