Thought for the Day - 2 April 2009

Dom Antony Sutch

I have heard more than once that in our current global crisis the world is crying out for leadership. With the G20 summit there is a plethora of world leaders today in London, but the comment is aimed at finding an inspirational and charismatic person who transcends personal and national boundaries and appeals beyond the selfish to the greatest good for the greatest number.

It is not just on the world stage that we need good leadership but we need it across the board, in our schools and businesses, in our armed forces and in our banks, in our public bodies and in our religious communities, ultimately in ourselves and in our families.

Recently I saw a slogan concerning climate change which read "Think globally, act locally". If we get it right in the smallest areas we will get it right in the biggest and vice versa.We cannot simply pass the buck to others but rather take responsibility ourselves.

We all then need to consider leadership. Simon Walker makes the distinction between leadership and those roles in life which can be adequately fulfilled by acquiring necessary skills. He says: "leadership is about who you are, not what you know or what skills you have... because leadership is about trust and it is about power."

A leader leads people from one place where they are currently, to another: a goal. Thus out of the known, and often safe, into the unknown. To do this he or she needs to be trustworthy with selfless power, what Jim Wallis calls "moral authority". This is a long way from the leadership of coercive power, a long way from the Hitlers, Stalins and Pol Pots of this world. It is rather leadership of consensus. In fact what power the leader has is used to enable and educate others not dominate and oppress them. Simon Walker sites Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela, Mahatma Gandhi and others.

I agree with him as they inspired others with their visions and were not concerned with self aggrandisement. I site, as does he, Jesus Christ whose leadership was based on integrity, service and love, and ultimately the giving of himself in death. He would be a fine example not only for our G20 leaders but for us all at every level, for, as Francis of Assisi said "it is in giving that we receive."

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