Traits of a True Leader

Leadership

“…When someone fails or disappoints you, may the graciousness of which you engage be their stairway to renewal and refinement.

May you know the wisdom of deep listening, the healing of wholesome words, the encouragement of the appreciative gaze, and the springtime edge of the bleak question…”

John O’Donohue (from “A Blessing for Leaders”)

          The frightful strength of this pandemic has afforded us an opportunity to watch some of our leaders perform before the camera. We’ve watched Gov. Cuomo of New York fight for his people to get the supplies they urgently need, call for help from medical people all over the country, and get it. He has deployed the National Guard to help with field hospitals and facilitate the logistics of testing and care. We have seen Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan take in stride the verbal swipes of our president and still advocate for her people. We have also watched the very distinguished Doctors Anthony Fauci and Deborah Birx stand in their authority and speak truth to power in a humble and straight forward way despite the death threats launched at them. We have witnessed health care workers all over America, who are working interminable hours, exhausted and demoralized, yet still taking care of their patients with the strength and determination that led them into these professions in the first place. We know what true leadership looks like.

          O’Donohue’s prayer for our leaders teaches us even more—that great leaders start off as great followers, that they have the grace and wisdom to act kindly, speak respectfully, accept criticism with grace, and lift people up with their words and deeds. I hope you will go to his website and read this blessing in its entirety. It reminds us of what is important about leaders, and what we most need them to be in this time of crisis. True and great leaders pull us together, support everyone’s efforts and sacrifice, and do everything in their power to comfort and reassure their people.

          We may not be leaders in the same way, but we can adopt the characteristics of leadership if we understand that what is essential is our cooperation with the request of the CDC to stay home. We can and should do what we can to help our neighbors and support and uplift one another. We can heal our divided nation by not taking this crisis as a personal affront nor a political opportunity. We are all in this boat together, and if we are to make it safely to shore, we must all row in the same direction and not against one another. I know we can do it—because we must. Lives depend upon us.

                                                  In the Spirit,

                                                  Jane