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Saturday, July 22, 2006

Fleming, D.(2004)Leadership Wisdom from Unlikely Voices: People of Yesterday Speak to Leaders of Today 

You don't dominate fire in its natural form. You tend it and perhaps give it some direction-but unless you're trying to extinguish it, fire will not be tamed. This is why so many leaders cannot appreciate or benefit from the way of fire; they want to control and dominate in order to compensate for their own insecurities. These are pre-fire Nolands who get frustrated when the fire will not yield-but they fail to realize it's not the fire that yields to the leader, but the leader who yields to the fire. 28

Too many leaders never make these choices and therefore fall prey to a status quo that leaves them as uninspired taskmasters who thirst for little more than a paycheck. The riches of the moment are lost on the safety of doing more of the same 30

The conversation around vision and values over the last few decades has, in fact, been an attempt to establish at one level a corporate --,lorate or organizational rule. 'The problem with this discussion at it has too often focused on vision and values as if they were the end game. Instead, 1 would suggest that vision and values, like good rule, comprise the first order change space necessary for -- communal life and endeavor to emerge. What if we used Nouwen's words in this way: An organizational rule is not so much about the way you discover the Ife of your organization as it is how you allow that v to thrive within your community. 35

Emergent leaders must be aware and humbled by the reality that they have been called into the story. And that overall sense of destiny informs any given present moment. Without this kind of ongoing enlightenment of the story, leaders fall prey to the demands of tasks and the whims of the moment. But when the larger story of destiny is the backdrop, wisdom and perspective can emerge in the moment. 68


This is the kind of inspiration people are hungry to receive from leaders. They want leaders who invite them to the journey by first living an authentic calling in front of them. They want leaders who challenge them to surrender further into the story and not be afraid. 70

Leadership vision, therefore, is first the ability to notice what is" as well as "what could be." This is exactly what Merton did that day he was riding the train through Long Island. He saw the sign in a new way~specifically in relationship to everything else around. Seer-like vision is concerned with attending to before moving on to creating new environments or processes. the present moment yields important clues about the future. Because leaders are forward thinkers, they tend to not reflect on "what is." Leaders who rarely journal what they see in their personal lives or in their communal endeavors run the risk of missing the present reality right before their very eyes. To miss "what is" frequently leads to a misperception or a skewed perception of "what could be." This is critical to leaders' personal journeys as well as to their communal journeys. When leaders don't notice their personal 74

Now a fuller picture of the leader-seer comes about. Leaders who see only the people will miss the purposes that act as threads weaving them together. They may also be distracted by the whims of followers or their insecurities. Conversely, leaders who see only the possibilities will miss the truth that the greatest fulfillment is always human synergy. Therefore, the leader must learn to cultivate what Warren Bennis calls the "management of attention"" at every level of the community's relational web and purpose. 75

They help others to become their original selves with potency This principle has been lost on leaders who view things oppositely~ as if everyone is around to help them. Wrong. Leaders should be chief developmental officers-that is, the primary nurturing officers. That's why 1 agree with Tom Peters when he says the next century belongs to leaders who lead like women. (1 would add that women will probably be the best leaders in the next century because of how important meaningful, connective relationships will be to the emerging church, as well as to the emerging economy.) 84

Self-Absorption: The Two Sides of Pride

The potential for pride is ever-present among leaders. And selfaggrandizement will ruin originality, creativity, and service. Leaders, like most others on the planet, are lured into pride by either over- or under- aggrandizement. I like to call it the "woe is me/wow is me" syndrome. Some leaders become ineffective because they're forever wounded and emotionally hurt by events or people. Their position gives them platforms to draw others into their pain in unhealthy ways. When this happens, energy is drained because all attention is focused on the leader. And that's exactly where attention should not be focused. Remember, leaders help.

Other leaders are inflicted with the other side of the pride syndrome: "wow is me!' These leaders over-aggrandize self and position. All attention is on them, not because they are wounded,, but because they are presumptuous. They really believe what they do and say is most important, and they minimize anything that does not support this belief. Again, this saps energy because the only energy allowed is energy that sustains the desires of the leader. This leads to tremendous blind spots and missed opportunities for^ the team. 'There's just no room or energy for anything else. 86

Professional Will creates super results, a clear catalyst in the transition from good to great; Personal Humility demonstrates a compelling modesty, shuns public adulation, and is never boastful Professional Will demonstrates an unwavering resolve to do whatever must be done to produce the best long-term results, no matter bow difficult; Personal Humility acts with quiet, calm determination; relies on inspired standards, not inspiring charisma*, to motivate. Professional Will sets the standard of building an enduring great company and will settle for nothing less; Personal Humility channels ambition into the company, not the self and sets up successors for even greater success in the next generation. Professional Will looks in the mirror, not the window to apportion responsibility for poor results, never blaming other people, external factors, or bad luck; Personal Humility looks out the window, not the mirror, to apportion credit for the success of the company-to other people and good luck.` (*I would add "an inspiring life. ')94

Exceptional cultural leaders are interested in their own hearts and in the formation that occurs there. And from that place of personal heart, they bring influence to bear on their teams or communities.

147

Nouwen ties the concepts of friendship and together in a beautiful manner:

Hospitality, therefore, means primarily the creation of a free
space where the stranger can enter and become a friend instead
Of an enemy. Hospitality is not to change people, but to offer
them a space where change can take place ... The paradox of
hospitality is that it wants to create emptiness, not a fearful
emptiness, but a friendly emptiness where strangers can enter
and discover themselves as created free; free to sing their own
songs, speak their own languages, dance their own dances...
Hospitality is not a subtle invitation to adopt the lifestyle of the
host, but the gift of a chance for the guest to find his own.`

161

formative reading – Lectio divina 177

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