"YOU are an inspiration to many people – I am certain you don’t even know the realm of the people’s lives you have touched."
Sandra,
student, Nichols College
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Guidelines for the Modern Leader Inspired by The Spirit of ‘76
History. What is history, and what meaning does it have for us today? There are those who would dismiss history as irrelevant; a meaningless accounting of events of the past that cannot possibly have any bearing on the current and very complex world in which we live today. There are many students who loathe taking a history course as it represents a class of boring lectures and of memorizing an endless list of names, places and events that will be forgotten when the semester is over. Then, there are those who are obsessed with history and constantly strive to learn from the “sins of the past” so as not to commit them again.
We are all familiar with the famous phrases teaching us to study and learn from the lessons of history. George Santayana has given us the most often referred to quotation by warning us that: “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” He, and so many others, have looked to the past to find examples of mistakes made, bad judgment used and poor leadership exercised. From this perspective the past and the lessons of history provide little more than a litany of errors and blunders that we would do well to avoid in the modern era. Thus, history teaches what not to do and what not to repeat.
However, history can and should be much more than that. History, if studied properly, will define our heritage, our culture and our respect for who we are as people and as a nation. History not only can help define who and what we are today, but can give us a greater appreciation and respect for the path that was taken to get us here. More importantly, our history can provide inspiration and positive lessons of vision, courage and passion that are as relevant today as they were many years ago. Nowhere is this more evident than in the leadership lessons given to us by those who lived The Spirit of ’76.
We may live in a world of modern technology and scientific advancements beyond the imagination of the Founding Fathers; yet the leadership principles exercised so brilliantly then are equally applicable now. Great vision, inspiration and passion may have been at the heart of the American Revolution, but the underlying and fundamental value of each of these core principles can guide us today through the labyrinth of modern leadership dilemmas.
VISION
Great leadership requires great vision. There is nothing new or particularly insightful in this statement as many authors and trainers have made the concept of vision a cornerstone of their writings and presentations. Thus, we have some wonderful contemporary writers such as Dr. Stephen Covey, Dr. Wayne Dyer and Shakti Gawain that implore us to use “Creative Visualization” and Creativity or to begin with the end in mind as we pursue our own personal or organizational goals. Each of these principles urges us to create and share our vision, and to pursue that vision of the future as though it were a reality today. It is simply “self evident” that great leaders have a clear and concise vision of where they are going and can transmit that vision with sharp detailed clarity to those who would follow their lead.
It was equally “self evident” to those who lived The Spirit of ’76 that great leadership required them to declare those causes which impelled them to take the extraordinary and perilous path of separation from Great Britain and to provide a vision of what a new and independent America would be. Today, it is incumbent on every leader to do the same, especially if the vision is new, innovative, creative or different from anything that preceded it. Needless to say, all these criteria were met by the Founders of this great nation, as they introduced a new concept to the world which involved nothing less than a radical departure not only from the status quo, but from the accepted view of how mankind lived and how governments governed.
Great leadership and great vision also involve great risk. Today’s leaders may be faced with fear of failure or fear of ridicule for declaring a vision of something far different from the conventional view of how things should be. However, those who designed and lived The Spirit of ’76 risked everything they had and pledged to the cause and to each other their Lives, their Fortunes and their Sacred Honor. “Yet, through all the Gloom I can see the Rays of ravishing Light and Glory. I can see that the End is more than worth all the Means. And that Posterity will triumph in that Days Transaction, even altho We should rue it, which I trust in God We shall not.”- John Adams, July 3, 1776.
The Spirit of ’76 leaders had a vision of a new nation and created it. Leaders today certainly can have a vision of organizational success and achieve it.
INSPIRATION
Most contemporary textbooks and training manuals on organizational behavior, management or leadership employ the concept of motivation. Motivation is seen as the means by which the manager or leader is able to have the individual members of an organization or team pursue the goals of the organization. In short, motivation is the mechanism that some leaders use to see that others do the right thing and get the job done. However, motivation has both a bright and a dark side. Discipline, negative reinforcement, reprimands, “carrot and stick” theories, path-goal theories and others have the potential to motivate people in ways not to behave as much as to encourage positive behavior.
Inspiration is seen here as the highest order of motivation and is always used in a positive manner. To be inspirational is to be exhilarating and empowering. A good leader can motivate someone to do something or avoid doing something, a great leader can inspire someone to achieve the highest organizational or team goals by having them reach their fullest individual potential. Those who created and lived The Spirit of ’76 have served as an inspiration to generations of Americans who still reap the benefits of a Republic that declares all of us to be created equal and where the government “derives its just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Inspiration is an invaluable asset to the modern manager and involves charisma, good will, honesty, integrity, respect for the individual and the ability to address an audience and stimulate them to take bold steps; steps that do not involve fear or threats of punishment, but steps that are willfully and gladly taken by an inspired and driven individual or group. If we were in an audience and heard the following impassioned plea, and knew that the speaker would take the lead we may very well have been inspired: “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”
Times may be difficult and the challenges of today may try our patience, yet for The Spirit of ’76 leaders: “These are the times that try men’s souls. The summer soldier and the sunshine patriot will, in this crisis, shrink from the service of their country; but he that stands now…” Great leaders will inspire them to stand.
PASSION
A leader possesses the requisite knowledge, skills and abilities necessary to perform the functions of management and demonstrates enthusiasm in his or her work. A good leader knows his or her job requirements and demonstrates excitement in the performance of his or her duties. A great leader knows the job and knows how to lead and demonstrates passion in his or her performance. Passion is the highest level of energy, enthusiasm and excitement and is readily visible to an audience or co-workers. When a team sees great passion in the leader, that passion transcends the mechanical aspects of the job or task and moves the group to the higher level of belief in the leader and the willingness to follow.
Genuine, sincere and honest passion oftentimes is a far more effective leadership tool than pure technical or detailed job- related knowledge. This is not to say that a passionate leader is not knowledgeable about the task at hand. It does, however, imply that information and technical details without passion will lead to proper management, but not good leadership. Thomas Jefferson knew the details of British tyranny, yet only inspired a generation with his passionate belief that “Single acts of tyranny may be ascribed to the accidental opinion of a day; but a series of oppressions…prove a deliberate and systematical plan of reducing us to slavery.”
When an audience perceives passion it also perceives credibility, energy, and a genuine commitment from the speaker to pursue a goal with the highest levels of dedication, if not devotion. Or, as The Spirit of ’76 generation might say: “Tyranny, like hell is not easily conquered; yet we have this consolation with us, that the harder the conflict, the more glorious the triumph.” When a leader brings passion to the forefront it must be real. An audience will see through the façade of feigned passion. True passion is genuine, authentic and sincere and cannot be produced artificially. To be truly passionate the leader must have a deep heartfelt belief in the message and cannot be told what to say or not say or what to think or not think. To do so is to engage in a form of fraud, and a fraudulent leader will ultimately fail.
When told what to think, today’s leader need only read the words on the rotunda of the Jefferson Memorial: “I have sworn upon the altar of God eternal hostility against every form of tyranny over the mind of man,” and then be passionate.
SUMMARY
The modern leader is confronted with a series of challenges and problems that have not been faced by previous generations. That is the conventionial wisdom; that the highly complex technologically advanced world in which we live poses an endless series of dilemmas and predicaments that require new and innovative approaches to heretofore unseen difficulties. One can argue however, that this is not the case and that there is nothing new about the essence of today’s challenges in relation to the issues confronting the practitioners of The Spirit of ’76. To be sure, the details of the challenges are different; modern science has transformed the material landscape dramatically since the days of the American Revolution.
Yet, at the very core of modern leadership challenges lay the very issues and problems confronting the first of America’s Greatest Generations. Furthermore, the response to these challenges are as applicable today as they were then. The great leaders we see in The Spirit of ’76 utilized the same principles that a great leader uses today. The modern leader needs great vision as we have discussed, however that vision can be equally illuminating if it takes an occasional look at the past while gazing into the future. The lessons of the past are real and instructive. The vision of the future, and the zeal to make that vision a reality was given to us by those who also gave us our “inalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
The modern leader needs to be inspirational; yet to inspire people to confront the fears of global warming or global terrorism requires the same skills needed to inspire people to join a revolution. The Spirit of ’76 leaders faced similar fears of their day and realized that “when the government fears the people there is liberty; when the people fear the government there is tyranny.” They inspired a nation to defeat tyranny.
The modern leader needs passion. But, what is the difference between passion now and passion during the Revolution? Honest, sincere and authentic passion for the cause is as vital to the challenges of today’s complex worldwide issues as it was to a generation that changed the world.
Vision, Inspiration and Passion; The Spirit of ’76 has taught us well
V I P* LEADERSHIP
* Vision…Inspiration…Passion
