OnLine With Zoe

Servant as Leader

I went to dinner this week with a couple of friends.  Naturally the conversation moved to politics, both local and national.  One of my friends said that just like among the progressives, the women's movement has, "no leaders."  This sentence is maddening.  It is cliche and flits through our minds like a giant gnat.  It is a sentence that is hypnotic and we must unweave its hold on us.  It has no legs.  It is not true.

Who are the famous?  and what is their nauseating attraction?  What are these pedestals we build that place untouchables in rarified air?  Yes, Bono and the Gates are doing wonderful things.  No, Paris Hilton and Jackass 2 are not messengers.  Magazine covers with air-brushed people, are not signposts.  These are not leaders.  In fact our leaders are not on pedestals or magazine covers. 

In the chambers of the heart and soul, leaders abound.  They are the people who wait with patience.  They are the polite ones on support calls.  They are the parents who ask.  They are the teachers who hear.  They are the brave who take a stand.  They are the visionaries who believe in tomorrow.  They are the prophets who delight in change and human evolution.  They are the ones who integrate yesterday with the hope of tomorrow and make today just that much better.   

If you don't know these leaders, it is not their fault.  If you do not notice these leaders, it is not for their lack of inspiration.  Their recognition is in your hands, your eyes, your mind.  "The prophet grows in stature as people respond to his message." writes Robert Greenleaf in his essay, The Servant as Leader.   

In his words, "I now embrace the theory of prophecy which holds that prophetic voices of great clarity, and with a quality of insight equal to that of any age, are speaking cogently all the time.  Men and women of a stature equal to the greatest of the past are with us now addressing the problems of the day and pointing to a better way and to a personeity better able to live fully and serenely in these times." 

The essay, The Servant as Leader, may be the most wonderful thing I have read since Emerson.  And Robert Greenleaf is all that I would ask of a thinker, a seeker, a teacher and a leader.  I choose to make him a leader, which is the point.  Who your leader is ~ is entirely up to you.  If no one inspires you, I would ask if your flint is dry.  Can you be ignited? 

Lines of Power ~ Part One

I know all too much about the Guru/student relationship.  Maybe I should say, I know all too much as Westerner about the Guru/student relationship.  I am certain I know all too much as a feminist about the Guru/student relationship.  I was in a formal, structured and resolute Guru/student relationship for over eleven years.  At first it was a relief to be asked so much and give so much but as the years unrolled, with the deepening of feminism, politics, social activism and personal self-discovery, the structure became not just unlivable, but unethical. 

I have written extensively about my disdain for the top ~ down movement of power in lineage.  Maybe it is right as rain for the patriarchy, I am not sure.  Maybe linear transmission was a balanced form when elders and seniors and teachers lived in fully integrated intergenerational communities; when older members of the tribe were the sole living libraries ~ holding truth, form, text, music, art, etc.  They were sought out, treasured and wrung dry by curious, unquenchable, young seekers.

These days I am unraveling old ideas and discovering new ones about intergenerational sharing.  Before I build on any conclusions, I want to really examine the circles, the sources and ethical transfers of power.  These are a couple of my concerns ~ Here in the West, though exceptions do exist, seeking insight from elders is not respected, developed or rewarded.  While you may know a few occasions where the long standing form of mentor and apprentice are working, overall it is lost to history, talked about as if it is pastoral.  Secondly, the glut of information available in a click or a google makes the wait for an elder to show up with an insightful jewel unreasonable.  (I taught myself to knit with an on-line video teacher)  In many cases, people are no longer the most accessible, reliable, encyclopedic or educational resource. 

As a feminist and political/spiritual activist I am very interested in lines of power.  Who has it?  How does it travel in a community?  Can it be done in such a way that empowers the seeker and validates the elder without an assumption of one as higher and one as lower?  Could this be the antidote to the terrible misuses of power by many western gurus, teachers and authority figures?  And, finally, what are we missing by not reaching across generations?   

          

Appreciative Inquiry

There are books that instantly bore.  There are books that paint a whole new world and offer escape.  There are books that befriend and confirm already established beliefs.  There are books that come from places so foreign, they create discomfort and confuse.  There are books that claim one's attention, whispering a new possibility.

Lately I have been wandering through a rich and magnetic system of change management, Appreciative Inquiry.  I have been introduced to this by the book, Appreciative Inquiry ~ A Positive Revolution in Change, by David I. Cooperrider and Diane Whitney.  Frankly, I bought this particular book on the subject (there are many) because it was the cheapest one on the subject and often the smallest is the most succinct.  I just may spend a lot of time learning about AI as it appears to offer something I want, need and will use.

Primarily I was won over as soon as I read that it is based on asking intelligent questions; questions that are thoughtful, inspired and purposeful.  Secondly, to do this well, the asker must demonstrate a very deep respect for the other person by asking thoughtfully and listening with curiosity.  Nothing is glib or manipulative.  Both parties invests their best and, as you would hope, dividends are higher than expected.  Finally, there may be magic afoot, because the exchange is based in being positive in every direction. 

The asker is positive.  They know that their partner holds within themself a bright answer waiting to be beckoned.  The answerer is esteemed.  They know that the inquiry is a pan sifting for gold.  Instead of both parties sitting with black pens and big tablets, listing problems and searching for fixes, they believe that the fix already exists, it is only waiting for the light of an intelligent question.

I know that this is something I have been searching for.  It applies to many things which consume my thinking.  Frankly, I am just f'ing tired of identifying problems, trying to jury-rig solutions, why be the bearer of bad news all of the time and, more importantly, why be the bearer of any news?  Is my news more important, more informed, more valuable because I deem it so?  Could it be that my true service lies in asking informed questions which respect the person being asked and in trusting that they hold a valuable answer?

To be sure, more is on the way.