Leadership Part 2: Sacred Listening
In my previous blog, I talked about Dr. Ronald Haifetz's reminder that a leader is to maintain a "sacred heart". That is, those who lead must keep a sense of wonder and awe, and I would add a sense of the God revealed in Jesus Christ. Otherwise, we can become cynical and see leadership as little more than imposing our will on others. Some of the responses I received from my previous blog focused on the word "leadership". Some of you who responded didn't disagree with the idea of "sacred heart", but many of you said, "I'm quiet", "I don't like to be the chairperson of a committee," or "My idea of a leader is a 'take-charge' person, and that's not who I am." Do you mind if I disagree with you? A second quality of leadership is "sacred listening". Have you ever been in a group where those who like to "babble on" about situations but never come to any resolutions? Others in the