“I think I can. I think I can.” I remember the phrase from my childhood vividly – the lofty aspiration of that little train engine willing itself to overcome the seemingly impossible in the book The Little Engine That Could. With a little optimism and a lot of hard work, no mountain is too high.
I must be thinking about the diminutive huffer and puffer when I’m coaching soccer these days. I’ve been known to say, repetitiously, that “if you think you can do it, you can.”
Franklin D. Roosevelt had a similar perspective in his inaugural address of 1933. Amidst the depths of the recession his opening phrasing waxed eloquent: “The only thing we have to fear is fear itself.” However, it’s the next phrasing of his speech that in my mind is even more timely for what many will describe as turbulent times we live in. “In every dark hour of our national life a leadership of frankness and of vigor has met with that understanding and support of the people themselves which is essential to victory. And I am convinced that you will again give that support to leadership in these critical days.”
The silent majority want to love where they live and want their community to inspire them with their actions. What we too often get in government is a dive for the bottom. We call it many names: red tape, status quo, even our inherent lack of trust. How do we bridge the gap between aspiration and disappointment?
A place to start is to think of your community as a Cast of Characters. Our beautiful mess of a democracy is the Board of Directors. Everyone has a voice and a vote. Our challenge is to sort out who to listen to more, and less. Let’s start with the “less.”
There’s the Bandwagon Jumpers – those who sit on the sidelines ready to pounce only when a good idea turns out well (they will then claim they had the idea or supported it all along). There’s the Pig Fliers – those who find reason to dislike anything new or unconventional. There’s the Trolls – the online idiots who take up way too much bandwidth with their ignorance, managing to find fault even in videos of fluffy cats playing with yarn. There’s the Group Huggers – who seek consensus with there is none (note: we elect governments with less than 50% of the vote) and may even hide behind over-indulgence in consultation to avoid making leadership decisions.
There’s the democratic process Grumpy Gus’/Sulky Sally’s (alliteration – not meant to offend if you are named Gus or Sally) who don’t like change, talk their opposition to almost everything in the coffee shop, and show up at Council meetings to oppose initiatives. We take democracy so for granted these days, these are the only people in attendance. Generally being of nice not naughty demeanor because we were trained by Santa at Xmas, we listen to this “perceived” majority and….nothing cool or imaginative gets done.
Then there’s the building-related grouping of NIMBYs (Not In My Backyard), NOPEs (Not On Planet Earth), and CAVEs (Citizens Against Virtually Everything).
Collectively in our community building, we are listening too deeply to the voices of discontent in the name of “community engagement.” The more ambitious, innovative, or different the initiative is, the louder the voices of discontent tend to be. The result is that we lose the forest of aim higher intent in the trees of manufactured controversy. Our dynamic decays. We fall behind in a world of accelerating change.
There’s nothing wrong with listening less to stupid people and more to thoughtful, wise and imaginative people. Think about that in your next plan-making effort where an engagement process tail wags the dog (a breakthrough outcome: a brilliant plan that captures the imagination of a core of residents who appreciate progress).
Losing perspective…is everything we need to avoid.
Leaders should find their comfort zone and position of strength with the Silent Majority – the aspirational who find reason to be un-involved, but want their community to aim high. There are also the Light Bulbs…confident, often quiet folks with great ideas just waiting to be discovered by their community. The Pied Pipers are important; they are the visible movers and shakers in your community who have the trust factor others will follow. An exponentially productive grouping is the Light Bulbs and Pied Pipers working together.
We need more LEAPs (Leaders of Everything and Anything is Possible) in our communities – leaders that ask us all to rise. LEAPs nurture people, organizations and people from below, planting the seeds of leadership skills. They challenge status quo with new ideas about the future. They wear bulletproof vests, confident in the die trying mantra built into the word Legacy. They accept failure as a necessary condition of creating transformation and breakthrough. They don’t necessarily make decisions based on what’s popular; they make decisions based on what’s right. We love these kind of people. They are gutsy and confident. We appreciate their loneliness in their conviction.
“Bold leadership is clarity around an unreasonable commitment to what should be,” said @AndyStanley. It’s my favourite leadership quote.
All of us can be LEAPs. It doesn’t need to be rare. It’s an attitude, like flipping a switch. When we work hard as communities to nurture and grow our LEAPs, we open the door to wild possibilities.
Image credit: Sabrina’s Stash, Flickr, https://www.flickr.com/photos/cloud10/436425696