An Open Plead for True Leadership
Please, please, to all those with the power to create, affect change and inspire; to all those powers - be them metaphysical or spiritual- please give us real leaders and please give us the capacity to understand what real leadership is.
Give us the capacity to think deeply and with great care. Give us the capacity to get past our self imposed celebrity filters and stop the analysis at: “she seems nice.” Give us the analytical mind-sets to be able to connect facts and not fiction. Give us the critical thinking skills and the brain power to go back and see what a disaster immature and arrogant un-leadership has been laid on our door step and that of the World. Give us the strength to not react to emotional triggers.
More importantly, however: Give us the strength to look in the mirror and say to ourselves, I am responsible for the mess this country is in due to my own flaccid and indifferent participation.
Let’s get active and demand more. Let’s demand an idea revolution and do nothing but have our political leaders seek practical ideas from the populace. The entire World is opening up and open Innovation is the mantra; but our politics are, more than ever, insular, cynical, fractured, closed minded.
Our “leaders” recycle the same theories and vernacular over and over again. Their speeches are like bad re-runs from four years ago, except for a few “key” words here and there addressed to the same “ordinary” middle class, mom and pop Americans. It is the same old calculation that created “political consultants” that teach them how to manipulate us into thinking like they want us to think.
Please, stop this. Our country is bleeding…
Leadership is not jumping post facto and claiming to be able to fix things via rhetorical soliloquies. Leadership is being able to change course and provide guidance before disasters happen; not afterwards. Leadership is having the forethought to understand where things are and where things can be. Leadership is having the fortitude to stop negativity. Leadership is not selling oneself to the devil by doing whatever is necessary to get power. Leadership is being able to stimulate positive attitudes. Leadership is being able to accept the ideas of people smarter than ourselves.
At the end of the day it us that need to demonstrate positive, educated and cultured Leadership. At the end of the day it is us that need to flow these leadership qualities up to them and not them to us.
Give us the capacity to think deeply and with great care. Give us the capacity to get past our self imposed celebrity filters and stop the analysis at: “she seems nice.” Give us the analytical mind-sets to be able to connect facts and not fiction. Give us the critical thinking skills and the brain power to go back and see what a disaster immature and arrogant un-leadership has been laid on our door step and that of the World. Give us the strength to not react to emotional triggers.
More importantly, however: Give us the strength to look in the mirror and say to ourselves, I am responsible for the mess this country is in due to my own flaccid and indifferent participation.
Let’s get active and demand more. Let’s demand an idea revolution and do nothing but have our political leaders seek practical ideas from the populace. The entire World is opening up and open Innovation is the mantra; but our politics are, more than ever, insular, cynical, fractured, closed minded.
Our “leaders” recycle the same theories and vernacular over and over again. Their speeches are like bad re-runs from four years ago, except for a few “key” words here and there addressed to the same “ordinary” middle class, mom and pop Americans. It is the same old calculation that created “political consultants” that teach them how to manipulate us into thinking like they want us to think.
Please, stop this. Our country is bleeding…
Leadership is not jumping post facto and claiming to be able to fix things via rhetorical soliloquies. Leadership is being able to change course and provide guidance before disasters happen; not afterwards. Leadership is having the forethought to understand where things are and where things can be. Leadership is having the fortitude to stop negativity. Leadership is not selling oneself to the devil by doing whatever is necessary to get power. Leadership is being able to stimulate positive attitudes. Leadership is being able to accept the ideas of people smarter than ourselves.
At the end of the day it us that need to demonstrate positive, educated and cultured Leadership. At the end of the day it is us that need to flow these leadership qualities up to them and not them to us.
Comments
"Bread and circuses" (or Bread and games) (from Latin: panem et circenses) is an ancient Roman metaphor for people choosing food and fun over freedom. It often appears in commentary that accuses people of giving up their civic duty and following whichever political leader offers to satisfy their decadent desires.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bread_and_circuses
We have traded instant gratification for long-term vitality. Makes me wonder what sort of country we are leaving for kids...