Leadership
I’m giving a talk to a summer camp tomorrow on leadership and I wanted to share with y’all some of what I’m thinking.
I think leadership in this country has become about a commitment to political ideals instead of honesty, integrity, ethical behavior, and character. People seem to believe that leaders defeat enemies like in some super hero movie instead of lead collective problem solving, problem solving that utilizes all the strengths of the community and minimizes the weaknesses. We unfortunately often look to highly compromised people as our leaders, people who’ve gotten where they’ve gotten through guile and positioning instead of hard work and character. I believe that ethical behavior and character are in short supply in this country and we are paying for it.
So what does character mean? To me, it means hard work and uncompromising honesty. It means admitting your mistakes and making amends for them. Any leader worth their salt will make tons of mistakes. Leadership is not about being perfect and flawed, human leaders often are better for the community because, if they are decent people, they will have a deep sense of empathy for that community. I think we expect perfect leaders all the time and this is such a huge pressure that it incentivizes lying, when vulnerable, deeply human leaders who work hard and tell the truth as they see it should be rewarded. Character is about figuring out what the right thing with your community is and doing everything in your power to doing it even if it’s not completely perfect.
I think being a leader can be very lonely sometimes. People can put you up on a pedestal, which is understandable, but not really fair. Some of my friends who are leaders erect walls around themselves to try to be responsible with their words and deeds and they share little about themselves as a form of self defense. I’m the opposite. I’m vulnerable with my anxieties and struggles and apprehensions. Every leader struggles every single day and we need to share more of that and have fewer walls. Vulnerability, to me, is self defense.
I really do have a lot of anxieties. I worry that we’ll run out of money. I worry that I’m not a good mechanic. I worry that my own demons and my checkered past will get in the way. I think about these things often. But, in spite of all this, I’m going to try to do the right thing because I want to be remembered as someone of high character, and Upright Man.
I have three heroes. I want to write with the passion and eccentricity of Hunter S. Thompson, I want to teach like Myles Horton, and I want to lead like Thomas Sankara. I have accomplished the first two and the latter, I’m working on. I want to end with a quote from Sankara:
“I want people to remember me as someone who’s life has been helpful to humanity.”