Tag: Unit 2

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Response to Ruiz – Light from Many Lamps – Part 1

Ruiz, thank you for a very thoughtful and perceptive post. I particularly appreciated the integration of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs as a means to unpack the John Burroughs’s passage because apart from understanding that the “secret” is in “doing something”, the measure or degree of that happiness, is directly proportional to what needs have already been met.  Additionally, I agree with you completely as it relates to how the activity of work exerts itself upon a man’s state of happiness, and more importantly, what transpires in his heart when that work vanishes. Looking back to the authors text, Burroughs (1951) states “blessed is the man who has some congenial work, some occupation in which he can put his heart” (p. 5); therefore, to the leader, this is a call of understanding and action to supplant the threat of idleness in those we lead, helping them discover meaning through task or voice.

Matt

Burroughs, J. (1951). The Secret of Happiness is Something to do. In L. E. Watson, Light from Many Lamps (pp. 3-7). New York: Simon & Schuster.

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Response to Daneen – Light from Many Lamps – Part 1

Daneen, nice work in your post capturing the essence of leadership in this sorrowful, yet inspiring passage, especially as it relates to the degree in which courage, compassion and conviction will manifest under crises. A few things captured my attention as I read your script – one, the role of the environment upon the practice of leadership and two, the degree at which risk exerts itself upon our ability to demonstrate the very best in ourselves.

It is truly amazing the influential power of so few words and their impact upon millions of lives, but so much more amplified when considering the environmental situation in which they are born out of. My rhetorical query is rooted in asking what specific tools or techniques need to become permanent assets in order to demonstrate those same qualities across a wide spectrum of experience and need? Conversely, is it less about the leader’s toolbox and more about the resources that the follower has at hand to decode or interpret the leader’s message? For instance, will I be able to communicate the same measure of courage, compassion and conviction when the environment, experience or followers change? Maybe the measure of impact is associated more with the readiness of the follower, or the collective state of a group, rather than the prowess of the leader and their words? When considering that theory, our tasks as leaders would be to empower the follower, so when inspiration strikes, they have the necessary means to decode, interpret and exercise the value.

Secondly, you mentioned how these qualities can be magnified in desperate situations; therefore, like the environment, risk can enhance a leadership opportunity, or it can strike fear, resulting in an opportunity lost. Ultimately, Lieutenant Farrow was thinking solely of his mother and wife to be; however, in the context of leadership, let us simply consider the limitless velocity and amplified power that spoken or written word holds, especially under great sacrifice be it on the battlefield, our workplace, or in our homes.

Matt

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Light from Many Lamps – Part One

Without fail, the series of collected works in part one and two of Watson’s (1951) Light from Many Lamps succeeds with blinding illumination mirroring divine truth upon one’s heart as a means to bombard the ego and replace it with steps towards growing one’s faith and experiencing the true reward from acts of outward service. I chose Wolfe’s work titled, to find happiness we must seek for it in a focus outside ourselves because it spoke of how through more regular self-assessment, I can effectively support others in their goals over my own, and second, the value of improved self-awareness.

In reflection upon my career as a means of becoming a more happier and a more dynamically fluid leader, the leadership lesson revolves around developing a more transformational approach towards my team via “transcending my own self-interests for the sake of others” (Northouse, 2016, p. 175). Oftentimes, I will lose objectivity when I forget to consider the goals and needs of those I lead because I am occupied with placing focus upon the organization’s goals, or my own. In response to his commentary that “man’s unhappiness is his own fault”, Watson (1951) points out that it is because people’s unhappiness is a result of looking too long inward versus outward (p. 12). The positive impact of this passage rests on the fact that if I shift more query upon others in terms of their own goals versus my own, that I will directly benefit in more ways than one.

As a follow up to the first point, the author again reminds us to place focus upon others over ourselves as a means to amplify our own sense of peace and happiness. Since both self-awareness and humility act as a catalyst for one another, this interdependent relationship works to avoid the “immediate danger of being bored to death with the repetition of your own view and interests” (Wolfe, 1951, p. 13). Ultimately, the key to Wolfe’s passage is to be continually aware, reflecting upon what false assurances may still manifest when exerting energy away from yourself gleaming greater personal joy in getting your hands dirty in the process of serving others.

Matt

Northouse, P. G. (2016). Leadership: theory and practice (Seventh ed.). Los Angeles: Sage Publications.

Wolfe, W. B. (1951). Happiness & The Enjoyment of Living. In L. E. Watson, Light from Many Lamps (pp. 11-15). New York: Simon & Schuster.