Saturday, 29 January 2011

The Challenge of Leadership

The loneliness and anguish of a leader. It is not enough to know. The capacity to come down to the level of the led and lead them with all patience and humility is what makes a great leader. A leader must put up with the ignorance of the led, yet strive not to be consumed by it. That is tough, knowledge is a great challenge, the more we know, the lonelier we become.And there is an individual and communal maturity that has to be reached before dealing with certain things , and we cannot presume nor be impatient. Any experience borne out of lasciviousness without true knowledge ends in nihilism. There is this obstacle of time against which a leader must wait, even when he has his destination and route staring acutely at him. A good leader must learn to be patient with time and with the led.This art of balance between vision and patience with the led and with time is the challenge of leadership. I end with this beautiful prayer of St Francis of Assisi: Lord , grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference!

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