Just a little bit on leadership

 

So, this can be a difficult subject, because the word is used in a

vast number of contexts, and therefore has a vast number of

really different meanings depending on exactly the context in

which you are focused.  

So, looking at  a simple example, if a group of people

are traveling from one location to another, the leader

would most often be the person who has made that 

trip the most, because he would have the best indications

of how to go, landmarks, and distance and things of that

sort.  

But, of course, generally the kind of leadership we are looking

for involves going to someplace you have never been

before, meaning generally, the future.  Since no one has

been there before, it's pretty hard to know the best way

to go.   

Of course, this is not really hopeless, for various reasons

because, we do it all the time.  Often, we have issues

about who might be the " best " leader, but in fact,

in practical matters, the leader can be not all that

relevant , since the individuals involved will all ready

have a good idea of what needs to be done, and therefore

the role of the leader tends to be about, what the other

members are needing to complete those tasks in which

they are engaged.  

But at any rate, there are some tools that are necessary.

One being to gathering information, very frequently

this information will come from other members of the

team or group.  This of course is a " learning " process

and involves some care and precision and effort. Other

kinds of tools might be. of course , patience,

humility, trust and honesty.

Of course, how these leaders , actually gets to be " leader ",

can be quite difficult,  really to understand, but

in a practical way, it will often works out, although some

times it does not.  

I guess my point is, very soon we are all (at least in this country)

 going to be involved with making choices about folks, some

might refer to as " leaders ".  I really think one of the most

important things for us to consider then, is what kind

of future we are really looking for.  And then we have

to make some kind of decisions about who we might imagine

will be best equipped , or most capable of getting us to that

future.  If we do make a mistake, well, perhaps that can be

corrected.  

So finally, it is very important for us to realize about this 

new place we are going,  that what we are looking for is for us 

to be there, all of us together, in that unknown place

we call the future.