With Gratitude for Leaders

"In America today, we have critical problems that will not go away without collective dedication and effort.  We must apply ourselves to serious problems with a concentration and a sense of purpose that we do not always summon in more normal times.  Those who would have us gloss over those problems or deny them do not help us respond.  Those who would lead us into cynicism or anger lead us away from healing.  We need deep understanding of our collective problems, we need faith, and we need love.”

(The Healing of America, Marianne Williamson, 1997)

About the time Marianne was crafting those words, I was in a Human Resources role at Gore & Associates, a corporation focused on hiring leaders and honing leadership skills.  While researching the topic of leadership, I learned that the number one quality required for a leader is integrity; I also learned, if a leader does not have integrity, his/her followers will no longer follow.

In America today, we have lost sight of and/or are lacking in leadership abilities; hence, a lack of integrity permeates our society.  Or, the loss of integrity, which seems to have come first, has netted a lack of leaders.  I can recall the experience and the feeling of watching the integrity in Corporate America plummet over a period of about 20 years, most prevalent when we became a global economy in the early 1990s.  With the excellent efforts and success of companies such as FedEx, one could have piece parts manufactured offshore and shipped overseas within a few days.  Unfortunately, the underlying thrust became greed – a slippery-sloped path often taken without any long-term thought of its effect.

So, here we are today, possibly wondering what true leadership even looks like.  At a Human Resources conference some years back, Bill Morin, CEO of Drake, Beam, Morin, New York, shared a story of when he waited among throngs of people to see Pope John Paul II come to New York.  While talking to fellow onlookers, he learned that many of them, not even of the same religion, felt a burning need to catch a glimpse of what a leader truly is or at least what one looks like.

As a community, I believe we have a legacy to uphold, one that teaches our children a way of life and the ability to thrive and to cope.  We have lost our way on many fronts and I believe we’re waiting for someone to take charge to get us on the right path.  At this point, I feel the only way is for each one of us to take on the responsibility to make a difference, to make our world a better place.  We have communications resources that we plug into each day; yet, we are out of touch.  We must do better than this – we cannot allow our children to be killed on school campuses; we cannot tolerate children in America going to bed hungry and we cannot settle for schools that are truly not teaching our children critical thinking.  Today, more and more children are reaching for suicide as a coping mechanism to end their fears of the constant barrage of what’s heard on the news each night.

For some good news - people in the spiritual community believe we are going toward the Light in this era, even though it appears there is so much darkness among humanity.  Research has been done on children born during the past 30 years or so that has studied their auras – these children are often called “old souls” because they are wise beyond their years – more sensitive, more forgiving, more intuitive and seeking integrity.  This brings hope that our ship can be turned around and its path righted.

I am not asking you to vote for a specific party or for a specific person.  I honestly believe the only hope we have today is prayer.  I am asking you to pray for the leaders who are voted into office during this term that they be instilled with God’s guidance to honor and respect all humans and to rise to the call of human decency and integrity.  It is imperative that we honor, respect and highly regard God’s beautiful creations of human life, the earth and the universe.

"We are divinely created spiritual beings placed on earth for the purpose of creating the good, the true and the beautiful.  This goal, when embraced by the human heart, is a compelling force that motivates us to higher heights than any contest or economical stimulus could ever come close to matching.  There are within each of us God-given talents that do not respond to market pressure yet spring to life in the presence of honor and respect.  Spiritual law would have us serve each other rather than compete with each other, bless each other rather than condemn each other, and place our primary attention on the extension of brotherly love.”

(The Healing of America, Marianne Williamson, 1997)