From My Heart
I sit at my computer tonight with a pensive heart. It isn't just Haiti, although that gives it a focus.
I will freely admit to being a romantic. I love great stories and heroes. I love happy endings and noble causes and stories about people who displayed more integrity and courage than I have.
I'm not seeking solace or absolution, just thinking out loud.
We have an interesting set of choices before us. In many cases we are angry and disillusioned. We feel let down . Our economic security is at stake. People we trusted let us down. Where do we go?
I believe in people. I have been castigated about my focus on engagement and the power or relationships, but honestly I have have yet to see a more powerful force than a group of committed people in support of a common cause.
I have been and aspire again to be a "leader". Leadership is a a trust between those who "lead" and those who "follow".
For many years our philosophy was "Think Global, act local". Perhaps it is time for us to both think and act locally. Washington and "world leaders" can offer insight, but perhaps we need to embrace more solutions one person, one family, one community at a time?
From my heart. What do you think?
I will freely admit to being a romantic. I love great stories and heroes. I love happy endings and noble causes and stories about people who displayed more integrity and courage than I have.
I'm not seeking solace or absolution, just thinking out loud.
We have an interesting set of choices before us. In many cases we are angry and disillusioned. We feel let down . Our economic security is at stake. People we trusted let us down. Where do we go?
I believe in people. I have been castigated about my focus on engagement and the power or relationships, but honestly I have have yet to see a more powerful force than a group of committed people in support of a common cause.
I have been and aspire again to be a "leader". Leadership is a a trust between those who "lead" and those who "follow".
For many years our philosophy was "Think Global, act local". Perhaps it is time for us to both think and act locally. Washington and "world leaders" can offer insight, but perhaps we need to embrace more solutions one person, one family, one community at a time?
From my heart. What do you think?
Labels: employment, example, Leadership, paradigms, pay it forward, people
posted by Mark at New Paradigms LLC at
10:59 PM
2 Comments:
Very astute and simple. We can't give up on people, even when mass paranoia and anger are cultivated by political forces invested in power more than the common good. Witness how a public option and healthcare reform became a weapon wielded against Obama and not FOR any meaningful reform. We remain the only advanced country in the world paying the highest price for an ultra-profit-driven model that delivers more hospital malpractice, less longevity, high infant mortality than counties with socialized healthcare. This is one example of how "leaders" will ignore the interest of followers to maintain leadership. I haven't lost faith in the potential for people to be critical thinkers and advocates, but the current political climate maintains division as its strategic imperative. And the Supreme Court's antiquated notion of corporations as people now places more power in fewer hands with the most money. How do we deal with that? How do we salvage our potential housing is still far in excess of wages yet economic "success" is judged by home prices rising? Until a common good working in a regulated capitalist system is valued, it's a dismal future. Even Adam Smith spoke about philanthropy and the importance of a common good being maintained for a stable society. Thanks for keeping faith in people. It takes that faith from all of us to push back against those who profit from our division.
I like what both of you have to say. It's too easy to let tragedy and intractability deter focus on doing the right thing. It's Monday. Time to pick up the ball and try again. At the end of the day, continuing to try is where it's at.
Nobody said it would be easy.
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