In almost every social arena I can think of right now, I can see an object lesson on the differences between leadership and brute force.
I’m not going to talk about the federal election, though its fumes are everywhere. My opinions on my denomination’s latest work will also wait.
But I’ve been mulling over a few quotes from the writings of Kevin Cashman and Brene Brown.
We lead by virtue of who we are… Most descriptions of leadership focus on the outer manifestations of leadership (i.e., vision, judgment, creativity, charisma, drive, etc.), instead of getting to the essence of leadership itself. Leadership is authentic self-expression [influence] that creates value.” — Kevin Cashman in Leadership from the Inside Out
A leader is anyone who holds her- or himself accountable for finding potential in people and processes… When we see shame being used as a management tool (again, that means bullying, criticism in front of colleagues, public reprimands, or reward systems that intentionally belittle people), we need to take direct action because it means we’ve got an infestation [of shame] on our hands… Shame can only rise so far in any system before people disengage to protect themselves.” –Brene Brown in Daring Greatly
According to these writers, leadership that serves an organization or community adds value to it, not shame.
Unfortunately, our national competition between political party favorites (also known as The Election) doesn’t show it.