The Choice: Anarchy or Cooperation
Today, we spend so much time teaching and dreaming of becoming a great leader that we have lost sight of what a natural leader is. By definition, leadership is the ability of an individual or group to influence and guide followers and other members of an organization or community. But our focus today is on the individual, driven by pride, ego, or just plain selfishness. However, I believe the truth lies within the GROUP, not the individual.
In education, for example, we expect teachers and administrators to dictate what our students should learn without input from the essential part of the ecosystem, the kids, and the parents. On one side, the parents have relegated this job to the teachers and administrators because they don’t have time or a desire to do it. On the other side, the educators have determined they are the only arbitrators and experts who can create students’ perfect environment. The students are caught in the middle and begin to ignore both sides because they don’t feel they need to be there, can’t focus on what they want to learn, and no one is there to have effective dialog, so they achieve some level of guidance.
Businesses are no different. Employees point fingers at poor leadership, leadership point the finger at poor employees, and stockholders point fingers at both the employees and leaders without considering the vision and purpose of the company, which is to satisfy customers with quality products that bring value to life than vanity. None of the groups are willing to agree on a direction as a group, much less as an organization.
Too many today don’t want to get off their duffs to challenge the system for improvement. They are too busy pointing fingers at the leaders who cannot effectively run the organization because of a distinct lack of focus and shared direction. We have lost the ability to discuss, formulate, and collaborate on moving forward. Too many discussions come from anger, frustration, and in some cases, irrational hatred.
Government is in the same, if not worse, situation because it has become a chaotic group of individuals that want to save the world but not at the expense of losing their influence or monetary income. They are unwilling to listen to their constituents and then vote a collective conscience. The structure of democracy has become its own worst enemy. It is riddled with demigods who reek havoc on individuals or groups without fear of reprisal since they can hide behind the cloak of outdated laws and regulations that serve no modern-day purpose.
With all this said, is there no hope?
There is always hope, but it must come from the heart and not just the brain. We must change our focus from “ME” to “WE” and do it with conviction and determination.
· Stop thinking the “I” am the only one with the answer but start thinking that I may have one piece of the puzzle and start looking for others who can contribute to making the solution whole.
· Start thinking of ways we can open lines of communications where we listen first to understand, then speak to clarify so the world can experience the joy of what humanity is capable of in dealing with issues.
· Understand that as a society, we can only survive if we work together. In a group of 1000 people, we cannot have 1000 different ways of doing something, but we can have 1000 inputs into making something whole and valuable.
· Understand that leadership is not a sole role. It is a role that is meant to be spread throughout the organization through empowering, encouraging, engaging, communicating, and orchestrating collaboration and cooperation rather than divisiveness.
· Understand that life is not perfect, there will always be ambiguity, misinformation, delusion, and a lack of trust, but we can learn to live through it, trust, build on truth, and become the victors. It requires participation and cooperation to make it work.
Keep in mind that if we keep going down the path of thinking that the loudest voice or the most money is by default the leader to follow, we will end up in a racked world with anarchy and revolution. The cycle will then continue because there will always be someone louder or with more money willing to unseat the current leader and assume the role of greed and selfishness.
The choice is ours.
