April 2008 - The FoCuSeD™ Facilitator eNewsletter
Politics | Gary Rush Facilitation
I know, business and politics don’t mix, but, for the first time in my experience as a voting adult, I’m truly excited about an election. I wanted to share my thoughts.
A Different Election
It’s been years since I remember the general population voting and pushing “for” a candidate. In years past, I listened to people speak about voting for the lesser of two evils. People were voting against someone rather than voting for someone. This election, the supporters of each candidate are for their candidate – passionately and more people are participating in the primary process than in the past. This is not an accident. The reason for the increased participation is because of inspiration – people feel inspired to make a change.
Also, in the past, most campaigns focused on negativity. Today, little of that has occurred. In fact, in every instance that it did, it was either denounced, someone got fired, or resigned. The insistence on a positive campaign shows a great deal of respect for the populace. This makes it easier to select a candidate based on his or her ability – rather than his or her social identity. After all, we are a melting pot of many great social identities and it should never be an issue.
Collaboration
I’m seeing more evidence of the candidates moving towards collaboration than in the past. There is discussion of meeting leaders of other countries – notably the leaders of countries, such as Cuba, North Korea, and Iran. Some require that those leaders meet certain conditions, however, at least all are thinking about it. (Sun Tzu, in The Art of War, stated, “Know thy self. Know thy enemy.” J. Wallace Day paraphrased this as, “Keep your friends close, but keep your enemies closer.”) Our President must be collaborative – not acquiescent, but collaborative. Instead of insisting on conditions before meeting, we need to engage in dialog – diplomacy over conflict. The more we engage in dialog, the better we understand those with whom we are dealing.
Leaders are Collaborative
Our President must be capable of collaborating with the Congress and the Senate to accomplish worthwhile legislation. Being collaborative is a critical quality of any world leader. Any leader who is strictly party-line in thinking and in working legislation will have a great deal of difficulty in accomplishing change.
Inspiration
Another important characteristic of our President is the ability to inspire. To be effective, all good Presidents surround themselves with advisers, the cabinet, and supporters, but the great Presidents were successful because they inspired action, participation, and involvement of the people. This is a nation “of the people, by the people, and for the people”. If the people don’t get inspired to be involved, we cannot create the future that we want; we cannot take control of our destiny; and we lose the spirit of collaboration by leaving it up to the few. Without inspiration, we will lose the amazing greatness that was begun by our founders when they created the greatest Constitution ever written – “We the People.”
Summary
For the first time in many years people are feeling empowered; they are participating; and they are collaborating. This election has had its ups and downs, but some candidates have demonstrated that collaboration –facilitative leadership – is going to be the model of the future. Let’s follow and do our part – get involved. We can no longer look at our government and complain that they are not doing a good job or that they are ruining our country because of their own agenda and political power – it is our responsibility to make the change. When we take part, our leaders listen – after all, we are the ones who support them and vote them in. It’s becoming evident that the “politicos” are finally realizing this. Now that we have their attention, let’s continue through our participation. 