I have been working hard lately to stay out of the fray. I found that focusing too much on the distractions of media and our supposed leadership was draining my ability to add value to my circles.
I want to encourage you:
- World Economic Forum – WEF
- World Health Organization – WHO
- Internal Revenue Service – IRS
- Diversity, Equity and Inclusion – DEI
It is okay to disregard their messaging and focus healthfully on your path. Yes, you will see posts and news articles that make you uneasy. You may find yourself drawn to a topic or initiative, then clouded by reason that contradicts what attracted you. This is normal – but also interferes with being a productive “Action Leader”.
You need to focus on your own strengths and natural call to lead, adding value to others. This doesn’t happen if you change your lens to someone else’s lens that is more restricted.
Sure… I have been quiet here for a little bit. I have been rethinking the firmness with which I want to add value to others. Do I want to be extremely tolerant and flexible, or do I want to be an action leader who is direct and tells it like it is? My brain tells me I may lose followers or opportunities in being direct… but my heart tells me it is the directness that will add the most value to those that hang about.
So Direct it is.
When I say I am not a fan of DEI, that does not mean racist and proactive in opportunity discrimination. Quite the opposite in practice. You see, the practitioners of DEI make their living by telling people they are oppressed and victims, and as long as we create victims… they have work. I DEI practitioner would look at a list of speakers for an event and say “Look at that White Privelege – holding back minorities from leading”, whereas I look at the situation and say what was the draw to select the current speakers? What was the missing skillset in the other applicants? Where there other applicants? How can we encourage other people groups to apply?
You see – when you dive deeper into the situations, you begin to recognize that if you tell a people group for long enough that they are victims, and denied the potential to accel… they often fail to even enter the race. DEI becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and recycling machine to keep the practitioners employed. Asking all the “White Guys” to step back and make room in a competitive market is pure foolishness, but equipping and encouraging other people groups to participate at a high level raises all tides.
When the world stage is talking about the World Health Organization, I simply look at the debacle that was the COVID response and the continued media blocking of data and testimony from this giant error in history. While I cannot allow myself to be consumed with the corruption and wrong-doing since I know justice will either not arrive or arrive very late, I can proactively dismiss their distractions and focus on positive change.
During the pandemic, I lost job opportunities, family connections, faith event access, friendships, and an overall quality of life. Instead of waiting on justice and accountability — I can move forward knowing that I made the best calls for myself and my family during that time. I can again refocus on adding the most value to my circles and those I may influence. When “Unknown” rises to the #1 cause of death just after a massive vaccine rollout, you would think those in charge would look into the root cause… but their bank accounts tell us why this will not happen.
When we peer in from the outside… hopefully we can choose better next time.
So Where is Our Leadership?
When you look about, are you content with the leadership that is leading you? We need to invest in ourselves and follow suit by accepting our natural calls to leadership — developing a strong core of younger leaders in our paths.
I am preaching the “Long Haul” here. this is not a band-aide or quick fix.
Years from now young people will read about the Obama, Trump, and Biden eras with absolute disbelief. No matter where you stand on the lines of politics, we cannot look at any one of them in completion and say we are proud of them. One may have been an eloquent speaker. One may have gotten great things done. But in their entirety – they each brought large swaths of damage and broken culture to the country as a whole.
So where is our leadership? I believe they are in your Church Youth Group, your living room, and our youth sports organizations. Get involved. Become an action leader and work toward an improved future where change is still open to occur.