It is hard to come to terms with just how outdated the classic leader-follower dynamic exists today because it is so prevalent still in our society, at least among large community pockets.
Imagine North Korea today, about the worst place one can conceive of. In this society, no one needs to worry about becoming a leader. In this kind of society, there is by definition only one leader. In a totalitarian state, Braudy writes...
Even as we go back a few more generations and see how our view of kings and queens have changed as they ceded their power to Parliament and have done away with the elaborate Catholic weddings to the plainer Anglican and Protestant services. Now the actors and actresses who play their parts have become the celebrities. Author Chris Rojek elaborates on this a bit more and even includes God in this quote ...
We now live in the era of micro-celebrity, which offers endless opportunities to celebrate that most special person in your life, i.e., you–who not coincidentally was also Time magazine’s widely derided Person of the Year for 2006. An honour once reserved for world leaders, pop icons and high-profile CEOs now belongs to “you,” the ordinary citizen with the time, energy and passion to “make a movie starring my pet iguana…mash up 50 Cent’s vocals with Queen’s instrumentals…blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street.”
Warren Bennis wrote and interesting article that I found to be quite challenging for our 21st Century view on what leadership looks like today -The end of leadership: Exemplary leadership is impossible without full inclusion, initiatives, and cooperation of followers - it involves the idea that there needs to be an alliance today, between followers and leaders if any success is going to be experienced.
Since I have spent the majority of my working world in the not-for-profit sector of leadership, I can say that too many of our leaders live in the realm of what leadership looked like generations ago. What makes it odd is that they are even proud of being so fossilised. What makes it harder to change is they have the support of a Board that views leadership in the same vein.
I have joined a team transformation group that come alongside leaders who are struggling or Boards who are seeing their leaders struggle, in order to bring healing into that environment. Right now, I am amazed that the Church has responded first. Three major North American denominations are moving with us right now to make sure the Church is a healthy place for leaders to grow and create the alliance they need with their parishioners to take them into the 21st Century, healthily.
Imagine North Korea today, about the worst place one can conceive of. In this society, no one needs to worry about becoming a leader. In this kind of society, there is by definition only one leader. In a totalitarian state, Braudy writes...
“the leader absorbs and thereby replaces every individual desire for recognition.”In my generation the picture of a leader has definitely changed. But then I read a 1942 study by sociologist Leo Lowenthal - that is two generations ago! The study was of biographies printed in popular magazines which revealed that from the beginning of the twentieth century until 1940, the percentage of biographies of entertainers more than doubled, while political biographies dropped from forty-six percent of the total to twenty-five percent. The study also showed a decline in the number of biographies of business leaders during this period.
Even as we go back a few more generations and see how our view of kings and queens have changed as they ceded their power to Parliament and have done away with the elaborate Catholic weddings to the plainer Anglican and Protestant services. Now the actors and actresses who play their parts have become the celebrities. Author Chris Rojek elaborates on this a bit more and even includes God in this quote ...
"As modern society developed, celebrities have filled the absence created by the decay in the popular belief in the divine right of kings, and the death of God."Can we agree? The new leader in our society is the celebrity? If we base it on salary that would be true, if we base it on who has the most followers, that also would be true. Today we are even excluding God as we all of somehow become gods.
We now live in the era of micro-celebrity, which offers endless opportunities to celebrate that most special person in your life, i.e., you–who not coincidentally was also Time magazine’s widely derided Person of the Year for 2006. An honour once reserved for world leaders, pop icons and high-profile CEOs now belongs to “you,” the ordinary citizen with the time, energy and passion to “make a movie starring my pet iguana…mash up 50 Cent’s vocals with Queen’s instrumentals…blog about my state of mind or the state of the nation or the steak-frites at the new bistro down the street.”
Warren Bennis wrote and interesting article that I found to be quite challenging for our 21st Century view on what leadership looks like today -The end of leadership: Exemplary leadership is impossible without full inclusion, initiatives, and cooperation of followers - it involves the idea that there needs to be an alliance today, between followers and leaders if any success is going to be experienced.
Since I have spent the majority of my working world in the not-for-profit sector of leadership, I can say that too many of our leaders live in the realm of what leadership looked like generations ago. What makes it odd is that they are even proud of being so fossilised. What makes it harder to change is they have the support of a Board that views leadership in the same vein.
I have joined a team transformation group that come alongside leaders who are struggling or Boards who are seeing their leaders struggle, in order to bring healing into that environment. Right now, I am amazed that the Church has responded first. Three major North American denominations are moving with us right now to make sure the Church is a healthy place for leaders to grow and create the alliance they need with their parishioners to take them into the 21st Century, healthily.
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