A once popular term has re-surfaced: "quiet leadership". The term refers specifically to the good people who do right without verbalizing it. Often, we find these "quiet leaders" to be earnest and soft-spoken while also earning trust through moral consistency and dependable industry. Today's Christian youth aptly capture this notion: always preach the gospel and, when necessary, use words. Quiet leadership represents a beautiful concept, but does it work?
What America has observed in recent years corroborates what humanity has always known... what we do not openly condemn, we tacitly condone. The fundamental transformation of American culture did not occur in a vacuum, but in the hearts and minds of each and every individual. Captive to the academic manipulations of intellectual elitists and the power tactics of overly compensated politicians, the average American suffers the slings and arrows of its embattled social structures. Our cultural heritage, belittled by politically motivated men and revised by selectively intelligent educators, becomes unrecognizable. Our peoples' culture assumes one identity today, and appears dynamically different tomorrow. Even to be an "American" doesn't assume a particular definition. We find ways to muddle our Americanism by establishing nationally more palpable cliques of people known as Hispanic-, Black-, Asian-, Arab-, Latin-American (and the combinations don't stop there).
This didn't happen overnight, though. The seemingly covert marginalization of our national identity is not exclusive to this presidency or our newest generation. No, it has always been and seeks to keep being. It is man's natural propensity toward temptation, deception, and pride that ultimately consummate his willingness to compromise his fellows in a civilized society. Give a man an inch and he'll take a yard. Observe this idiom in motion when our politicians convene with lobbyists, when corporations meet with union reps, when teachers meet with the school board. Each group doesn't fairly negotiate. Instead, they seek to steal territory, usurp money and goods, leverage vital assets, and compromise emotion, fairness, and legalism to fulfill their ultimate political agendas.
These things do not manifest themselves in solitude. They overtly influence our everyday lives by impacting the taxes we pay, the type of TV shows we watch, the churches we attend (or don't), the groceries we buy, the cars we drive, etc. Daily, Americans confront a subtle but sobering reality... we don't find contentment in our equality. We want to be richer and more popular. We want to be bigger and stronger. We want to work less and play more. Plainly, we just want to BE more. We are human... we are sinful... this is our innate, unsatisfiable nature.
So, who should lead such a people? Who can lead such a people?
With the buzz of selfish politicians and selectively intelligent pundits growing ever-louder on today's mind-numbingly, provocative popular media networks, the expectation for good people who do right grows even larger. Our nation cannot afford quiet, do-gooders. Frankly, we just need good people to speak up. Speak up and stand up for what is right and good in this world!
Ironically, I've never seen a quiet leader because I've never seen a quiet person followed. The iconic leaders of our American heritage were men and women of great oration and demonstration. They not only acted, but they spoke. Show me someone who has led, and I will show you that they did not lead in silence. That's because there's no such thing as quiet leadership!
America's tipping point is near. A time for good and selfless leaders, who do right and speak up, is now. What America's leadership does not openly condemn, it will silently permit. Wanted: Real leaders to build a lasting America.
These things do not manifest themselves in solitude. They overtly influence our everyday lives by impacting the taxes we pay, the type of TV shows we watch, the churches we attend (or don't), the groceries we buy, the cars we drive, etc. Daily, Americans confront a subtle but sobering reality... we don't find contentment in our equality. We want to be richer and more popular. We want to be bigger and stronger. We want to work less and play more. Plainly, we just want to BE more. We are human... we are sinful... this is our innate, unsatisfiable nature.
So, who should lead such a people? Who can lead such a people?
With the buzz of selfish politicians and selectively intelligent pundits growing ever-louder on today's mind-numbingly, provocative popular media networks, the expectation for good people who do right grows even larger. Our nation cannot afford quiet, do-gooders. Frankly, we just need good people to speak up. Speak up and stand up for what is right and good in this world!
Ironically, I've never seen a quiet leader because I've never seen a quiet person followed. The iconic leaders of our American heritage were men and women of great oration and demonstration. They not only acted, but they spoke. Show me someone who has led, and I will show you that they did not lead in silence. That's because there's no such thing as quiet leadership!
America's tipping point is near. A time for good and selfless leaders, who do right and speak up, is now. What America's leadership does not openly condemn, it will silently permit. Wanted: Real leaders to build a lasting America.
