LET'S TALK ABOUT . . .


                                              "ASPIRING TO LEADERSHIP"




Recently I have been following the mayoral race in our city.  I am amazed at how many aspire to fill those shoes.  It is especially interesting to me in light of all issues facing our city.  It is an onerous job at the best of times, especially in a pluralistic society where there are so many opposing forces vying for control, or at least a voice.  We truly live in a mosaic.


I grew up during an era when leaders were supported by more of a majority than is afforded today.   Many of them are still venerated by history's interpretation and the legacies we enjoy as a result of their leadership.  I have often wondered if we have a deficit in great leadership, a more fragmented society or both.  It probably isn't even that simple!


My favorite paradigm of leadership is "servant leadership;" leaders who aspire to leadership in order to serve.  Such a style begs two questions.  Who is it they really seek to serve?  Or, even more telling, who is it they follow?  I think those two questions are integrally linked: perhaps if we know who they are really following, we will know who it is they really seek to serve.  Those answers are more revealing than one might imagine!


One of the most controversial leaders of our time is a man who is breaking rank with much that would be considered proper for anyone in his position.  Whether we agree with his ideology or the execution of the same, Pope Francis has stepped onto the world stage and is leading.  I think we could ask just about anyone who they perceive he is following and who he is attempting to serve and millions would be clear and decisive in their responses, even in controversial interpretations.  He is modeling a kind of servant leadership.


It was interesting to me that Prince Charles broke rank on a recent visit to Canada by offering an opinion far too politicized for a member of royalty.  The media were all over his statement.  Why do we love such incidents?  I think we long to know what people really think, especially people in the public spotlight.  It reveals a lot about them and helps us sift and sort ourselves out in relation to them and their ideologies.  It can be a messy process at he best of times.


Having someone to "bump into" is part of the process of knowing and defining ourselves.  Watch children bump into their parents, teachers, coaches, etc. and how it is a shaping force in their lives.  Watch teenagers who are desperately trying to differentiate and individuate.  They often define themselves first by who they aren't: "I am not you Dad and/or Mom."  They roam the options around themselves bumping into peers, authority figures, etc. trying to individuate: "Am I like you?" It often happens simultaneously like the process of disengaging the clutch and engaging the accelerator in a standard transmission.


Strong, definitive personhood is important; we are all following and we are all leading, whether we realize it or not.  It is, as I said earlier, an onerous responsibility to integrally and vulnerably define and put ourselves out there for others to "bump into;" sympathetically or antithetically.  Such has shaped societies; it has shaped world history.  It will continue to do so.  Our responsibility is to respectfully wrestle with the options presented to us and make our own definitive decisions.


The process of defining oneself is a life-long process for those who are willing to admit they are living growing beings.  We do not need to have it all figured out; no one does except the deceived!  Every season of life brings new challenges against which we define ourselves and to which we bring ourselves.  This is part of life. 


The questions for all of us echo those required of leaders: who are we following and whom do we serve?  I trust as we continue to define who we are and what we believe, we will be gracious, wherever and whenever possible, to others on the journey!


Until next time . . . this is, Just Janice!