B121, your ability to clarify the three leadership principles from this story from the book is impressive and very helpful. Great leaders see the opportunity, present vision clearly, and have the will and faith to persevere. I’m hoping we all grow in those leadership skills through this program!
Your reflection at the end of your desire to be able to present critique in a more positive light hits home for me. As a fellow flaw-finder, I try to be aware of how I deliver criticism. My desire is never to tear down but always to build up. As a leader, I have the responsibility to present my words as a reflection of this desire. It is not enough to simply deliver critique and assume that my desire is understood. The substance of my desire has to be heard and seen through my words in a way that encourages and builds up even while pointing out what may need to change.
Norm, I appreciated so much your reflection on this chapter of the book and your summary of Roosevelt’s final speech. I had heard of the speech and its impact but, truthfully, I didn’t know about it being delivered the day after Roosevelt’s death. The fact that he died the day before the speech was to be delivered definitely gives the words more gravity and their effect is definitely more profound.
I also appreciate how you highlight the current cultural unease with historical figures and how they’ve been celebrated. Whether it’s a statue or the naming of an institution, leaders who were recognized in the past despite their failings are now coming under closer scrutiny. Your examples of Thomas Jefferson and John A. MacDonald help bring some great perspective to this very real and present issue.
This generation will need to figure out how to honour leaders of the past who may not meet the moral qualifications of modern society. How do we celebrate the contribution of leaders like Jefferson or MacDonald while not necessarily affirming all of their behaviour? This is a very real current struggle.
This struggle also points to the future. What behaviour is considered acceptable by modern standards but, in the future, may be held with disdain? How are leaders today supposed to conduct themselves to a moral standard of modern society but also of a future society of which they have no knowledge? This seems, at best, very difficult and, at worst, a fool’s game.
Reading the final two chapters of Watson’s anthology (1951) seems to be a fitting end to this course. The focus on the fruitfulness of later years and looking toward the future resonates with me as I think about what has been learned in this course, as I look toward the rest of the program and the future of my own leadership.
The story of Marcus Tullius Cicero is a reminder of the personal responsibility carried by every leader to prepare themselves for their older years. “The harvest of old age is the recollection and abundance of blessings previously secured” (Watson, 1951, p. 263) speaks of the possibilities and opportunities of old age rather than the limitations. In a culture where the elderly are often disregarded and even discarded, we must remember that the privilege of growing old brings great wisdom, experience and insight. The quote from Cicero, however, reminds us that this great harvest comes from a younger life where blessings were secured which are no longer available. As the quote from Charles Francis Potter later in the chapter says, “One must accumulate friends. One must lay up reserves of mental pleasures. One must plan for the health that is so extremely important to happiness in this period” (Watson, 1951, p. 266).
As someone who has recently entered my fifth decade, I find myself more often thinking about the future decades I hope to have. My focus is on leading effectively in my 40’s while also trusting I will have many more years as a husband, father, friend, and, God willing, a grandfather. Keeping this perspective helps me to remember that everything I spend my time on this year will have an impact next year and next decade. How I invest my time this year will have a harvest next year and in the next decade. My hope and my prayer is that my older years are some of the most fruitful, enjoyable and beneficial years of my life for myself, for my family, and for those around me who I have the privilege to lead and serve.
Reference Watson, L.E. (1951). Light from Many Lamps. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Matt, what a great reflection you’ve given on this chapter of the book. I found myself nodding in agreement as I read your whole post.
I can agree wholeheartedly of the temptation of a leader to do as much as they can, filling time with tasks and work and priorities. There is always more work to be done than hours in the day! The ability to step back from what I perceive to be the most pressing issue, to reevaluate priorities and even to ask advice from peers has helped me grow in the area of equipping others to do the work so that I am able to be more effective as a leader.
I’m also so grateful for the disciplines of solitude, silence and simplicity. It seems from your post that you have a good grasp of these and that they have taken root in your life. Having our days, weeks, and years marked not by the tasks we are accomplishing but instead by what is happening inside of us is an incredibly counter-cultural desire.
Daniel, I was so encouraged to read your reflection on this chapter of the book. As a fellow pastor I understand some of the demands on your personal life and I have seen more than a few colleagues become victims of their own bad decisions, partly as a result of failing to acknowledge how to have this healthy work-life relationship, as you put it.
This year my wife and I celebrated 15 years of marriage and I’m so grateful we decided early on to keep healthy commitments and boundaries in our relationship. I was thinking just this morning that in 10 years from now our youngest son will (hopefully!) be off to university and it’s likely that we will be empty nesters. Hard to imagine during the toddler and elementary school years but I’m hoping the future we have together with just the two of us at home will be the very best years of our marriage!
I’m cheering you on as you continue to seek out rest, joy, and love in your family, in your marriage, and in your work.
“How are you?” and “I’m so busy!” may be two of the most commonly used phrases in modern society. The fact that a quesation about someone’s well-being is generally answered with a reply about how much they have going on speaks to the status symbol of busyness (Pinsker, 2017) and how we have allowed demands on our life to become out of control.
And yet, this is certainly not a new problem. The story of James Gordon Gilkey (Watson, 1951) highlights that busyness was just as present in the good old days as it is now in 2018.
Gilkey’s quote from a sermon in 1944 has as much to say today as it did when it was spoken 74 years ago:
The crowded hours come to you always one moment at a time. That is the only way they can come. The day may bring many tasks, many problems, strains, but invariably they come in single file.
You want to gain emotional poise? Remember the hourglass, the grains of sand dropping one by one. (Watson 1951, p. 221)
Reflecting on this story gives the opportunity to consider the difference between proactive and reactive behaviour when it comes to the demands of life and busyness. Am I proactively choosing to create boundaries and margin in my life? Am I reacting to every situation around me in a way that makes my life busier?
As the study from Harvest Business Review (Bellezza, Paharia, & Keinan, 2016) shows, there is a connection between the perception of how busy someone is and their social status. Am I being careful that I am not artificially inflating my own importance and how busy I am so that those around me believe I am more necessary than I actually am? Understanding the motivation behind our decisions to become busy can help to uncover some dark places in our own lives.
Over the last several years I have been able to create margin in my life in a few significant ways. Margin in how I use my time, what I do with my money and what opportunities I agree to take on has allowed me to be more focused while actively staying away as much as possible from the trap of busyness, real or perceived.
As Watson (1951) states in her conclusion, this has helped “achieve a better, more serene way of life” (Watson, 1951, p. 221).
Question Are there some specific habits you have put in place in your life to combat the tyranny of busyness?
Reference Bellezza, S., Paharia, N., & Keinan, A. (2016, December 15). Research: Why Americans Are So Impressed by Busyness. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2016/12/research-why-americans-are-so-impressed-by-busyness
Pinsker, J. (2017, March 1). ‘Ugh, I’m So Busy’: A Status Symbol for Our Time. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2017/03/busyness-status-symbol/518178/
Watson, L.E. (1951). Light from Many Lamps. New York: Simon and Schuster.
Dawn, your post on authentic leadership is so helpful. I’ve been navigating a bit of the challenge of understanding authentic leadership vs. transformational leadership and how those two can be seen as distinct. Your post really brought some clarity for me and I’m very grateful for that. Thank you!
As far as your question at the end of your post, the tension between a leader’s desire for relationship with those around them with the reality that too much transparency may reduce the authority of the leader is very real. I know I struggle with that as a leader. Although I don’t have a definitive answer I have learned along the way that those around us already know we have weaknesses. Sometimes they see our weaknesses more clearly than we do! The first admission is that I’m not perfect, I have areas where I struggle and I promise that I will let you down as a leader.
I have found over time that in leadership relationships where I am willing to make that assumption, those around me rally with support, encouragement and increased commitment to the cause. Areas where I have weaknesses can be strengthened by others around me.
The difficulty is leanring to not be threatened or ashamed of those around us who have different strengths and who compensate for our weakness. This is the internal work that a leader has to go through to develop empathy, compassion and courage while managing this tension of desire for relationship and fear of transparency.
Jessica, I really appreciate your encouragement to give authentic recognition to people around us as we journey through life. I love hearing about the impact of your parents on you and your siblings and how that has had a lasting effect on you throughout your life.
How you’ve highlighted the way you encourage people to lead and influence others regardless of their role, position or title is really encouraging, as well. We’ve been learning so much in this course about leadership being so much more about who we are as people and less about the authority I have because of my title or assignment. Your reminder that we can serve others in so many different capacities is so helpful and I’m sure those who work with you appreciate the encouragement as well.
May we all have the opportunity to leave the world a little better than we found it!
Abraham Lincoln’s ability to unite people around a cause is legendary and the focus of this story in Light from Many Lamps (Watson, 1951) is one more example. Lincoln’s second inauguration speech is remembered most for the first phrase of the closing paragraph. “With malice toward none; with charity for all” (Watson, 1951, p. 205) is the summary of the outcome Lincoln was hoping to express in this speech. As expressed by Elihu Root, “It is a living principle of action” (Watson, 1951, p. 206).
As I reflected on this story and the content of Lincoln’s speech, I couldn’t help but think about the current state of the presidency south of the border. While Lincoln is affirmed to be a man who “never willingly planted a thorn in any man’s bosom” (Watson, 1951, p. 206) the same cannot be said for today’s president.
The focus of my reflection is not political but instead an appreciation of Lincoln’s ability to bring unity to a divided country with the clear contrast of the division we see today in the United States.
Lincoln’s desire for the entire country to live with malice toward none, charity for all begins with him as a leader of impeccable character and personal resolve. Time and again Lincoln shows evidence of the four transformational leadership factors (Northouse, 2018) as developed by Bass (1985, as cited in Northouse, 2016) – idealized influence, inspirational motivation, intellectual stimulation and individualized consideration (Northouse, 2018, p. 169-171).
Personally, Lincoln has been a significant leadership influence for me and I had the opportunity in 2016 to visit the Lincoln Memorial as part of a quick visit to Washington, DC. To see the words of this speech engraved on the wall of the memorial (photo below) was a reminder to me of the impact of having malice toward none, charity for all in my own leadership.
Exterior of the Lincoln Memorial
Lincoln keeping watch over Washington, DC
Text of Lincoln’s second inaugural speech
There are times when I will disagree with someone but as soon as malice toward them starts to happen inside of me I’ve gone beyond the boundaries of what is acceptable as a leader. In fact, the words of Jesus remind me that “Anyone who says, ‘You fool!’ will be in danger of the fire of hell” (Matthew 5:22, New International Version). Extreme, perhaps, but it gets to the heart of the matter that our thinking toward those around us begins to influence our behaviour toward them as well.
At the same time, as a leader I have the opportunity and privilege of showing charity to those around me. Believing the best about people and the decisions they make do not come naturally but this speech of Lincoln’s is a good reminder of the power of a leader’s willingness to show charity to all.
Question
What are some specific habits you pursue in your life to keep malice subdued and to increase charity toward others?
Reference Northouse, P. G. (2018). Leadership: Theory and Practice, Eighth Edition. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.
Watson, L.E. (1951). Light from Many Lamps. New York: Simon and Schuster.
I appreciated your thoughts on the story from Light from Many Lamps with the history of the motto, “This, too, shall pass away.” The reminder that all things in this life – good, bad and ugly – are temporary is a truth which can help us grow, endure hardship, and persevere through tough circumstances.
I love your attitude about challenging yourself, setting big goals and not being afraid to dream. Taking on this MA Lead program has definitely been a challenge for me and I hear you when you express your desire to grow so that you can make a great impact on society. That is an honourable goal!
I would certainly agree with you that life can end up a little less than rewarding when we achieve goals which we believed would be fulfilling and meaningful. As a follower of Jesus, I’m reminded that in many ways this world and the life I live here will never fully satisfy the deepest desires inside of me, regardless of what kind of academic achievement or career success or financial gain I’m able to find. There will always be something beyond the limits of what I’ve achieved which will continue to pull me forward.
So, in some ways, the motto reminds us that all things shall pass away and, yet, perhaps this is an expression of a deeper desire for something eternal, something everlasting, something which will never, ever pass away. I have found that the ability to fix my eyes and my heart on those things are what allow me to find meaning, purpose, hope and fulfillment.
You have many people cheering you on in this journey of discovery!
