WORKING FOR ETERNITY
Today was the fifth monthly meeting of a one-year leadership class I have been taking since September 2002. It's for professionals to take a step back from the hustle and bustle of daily crises, and to nurture a long-term perspective on executive leadership, personal legacy, and community stewardship. Today, we spent the entire morning on "emotional competence," which speaks to the importance of the behavioral side of leadership. In other words, past the technical skills, educational pedigree, and field experience, great leaders set themselves apart by their ability to know themselves, manage their emotions, and empathize with others.
It was a controversial topic for some, whose initial reaction was that this was all too touchy-feely. Others dismissed as a "well, duh," as in, "Well, duh, be nice to people; wow, I'd never thought of that before." I harbored some of these opinions. In general, where this class has been helpful hasn't been as much learning new things (although certainly I've learned my share) but rather being able to put a vocabulary, emphasis, and discipline to obvious things that sometimes get lost in the shuffle. In other words, no one would disagree that emotional competence isn't important. Our problem as leaders, though, is we fail to put that head knowledge into action, because we get lost in the tyranny of the urgent, or because we undervalue its importance as a leadership tool in our repetoire of tools.
The concept of "legacy" -- that our goal as leaders is to so resonate with our staff, stakeholders, and society that we leave an indelible and lasting mark from our work -- has been repeatedly stressed, and rightly so, in my opinion. We all would agree that we should take time to listen, that we should do the right thing even if it costs us in the short run, and that we should cultivate sustainable strategies and policies. But we lose sight of such good intentions in the face of checking off the ten things on our to-do list, meeting quarterly earnings figures, and preparing ourselves for re-election in less than two years.
Do you understand what I'm saying? We all want to act in the long-term best interests of ourselves and others, and want others to act similarly, and yet almost everything that rewards and punishes us does so for short-term results. I learned this disconnect in my Management 101 class eleven years ago, and I have seen it come into play in almost every aspect of life. How are we to break out of this cycle?
Well, for one, that's one of the reasons I like this leadership class so much; it forces us out of our tiny worlds and helps us to see further around us and further into our futures. But ultimately, I think that one thing I have working in my favor is that I believe in God and in the eternality of souls, both mine and those around me, and in the eternality of God's Kingdom. I believe that people last forever, whether they spend most of that eternity in heaven or in hell. And I believe that while human institutions and buildings and systems are finite, they are part of a cosmic system that God is moving all of life towards.
So to fight and sweat and lobby for people and for justice is not in vain. While we may not be rewarded in the short term or even in this life, we can expect that our labor is not in vain. Everything we do -- our prayers, our acts of compassion, our fight for justice -- is for eternity. If we who believe in the purposes of God and the eternality of souls can genuinely live this way, we can break out of this system which hopes for long-term perspective and rewards short-term results, and we can do amazing works of love and righteousness.
Today was the fifth monthly meeting of a one-year leadership class I have been taking since September 2002. It's for professionals to take a step back from the hustle and bustle of daily crises, and to nurture a long-term perspective on executive leadership, personal legacy, and community stewardship. Today, we spent the entire morning on "emotional competence," which speaks to the importance of the behavioral side of leadership. In other words, past the technical skills, educational pedigree, and field experience, great leaders set themselves apart by their ability to know themselves, manage their emotions, and empathize with others.
It was a controversial topic for some, whose initial reaction was that this was all too touchy-feely. Others dismissed as a "well, duh," as in, "Well, duh, be nice to people; wow, I'd never thought of that before." I harbored some of these opinions. In general, where this class has been helpful hasn't been as much learning new things (although certainly I've learned my share) but rather being able to put a vocabulary, emphasis, and discipline to obvious things that sometimes get lost in the shuffle. In other words, no one would disagree that emotional competence isn't important. Our problem as leaders, though, is we fail to put that head knowledge into action, because we get lost in the tyranny of the urgent, or because we undervalue its importance as a leadership tool in our repetoire of tools.
The concept of "legacy" -- that our goal as leaders is to so resonate with our staff, stakeholders, and society that we leave an indelible and lasting mark from our work -- has been repeatedly stressed, and rightly so, in my opinion. We all would agree that we should take time to listen, that we should do the right thing even if it costs us in the short run, and that we should cultivate sustainable strategies and policies. But we lose sight of such good intentions in the face of checking off the ten things on our to-do list, meeting quarterly earnings figures, and preparing ourselves for re-election in less than two years.
Do you understand what I'm saying? We all want to act in the long-term best interests of ourselves and others, and want others to act similarly, and yet almost everything that rewards and punishes us does so for short-term results. I learned this disconnect in my Management 101 class eleven years ago, and I have seen it come into play in almost every aspect of life. How are we to break out of this cycle?
Well, for one, that's one of the reasons I like this leadership class so much; it forces us out of our tiny worlds and helps us to see further around us and further into our futures. But ultimately, I think that one thing I have working in my favor is that I believe in God and in the eternality of souls, both mine and those around me, and in the eternality of God's Kingdom. I believe that people last forever, whether they spend most of that eternity in heaven or in hell. And I believe that while human institutions and buildings and systems are finite, they are part of a cosmic system that God is moving all of life towards.
So to fight and sweat and lobby for people and for justice is not in vain. While we may not be rewarded in the short term or even in this life, we can expect that our labor is not in vain. Everything we do -- our prayers, our acts of compassion, our fight for justice -- is for eternity. If we who believe in the purposes of God and the eternality of souls can genuinely live this way, we can break out of this system which hopes for long-term perspective and rewards short-term results, and we can do amazing works of love and righteousness.
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