1990- Leadership-Simply Following Nature - Windstar Note

 

· “The self-evident, self-actualizing demonstration of purpose is the mark of a great leader.

· All that is visible must grow beyond itself, extending into the realm of the invisible. Thereby it receives true consecration and clarity and takes firm root in the cosmic order.

· (The great leaders) value their words highly. They accomplish their tasks; they complete their work. Nevertheless, the people say that they simply follow nature.

 In considering these three statements from the I Ching, it seems to me that the overriding theme of leadership is this: We can’t try to be leaders; either we are or we aren’t. 

Leadership does not come out of what we say we are going to do. It comes out of what we do. It comes out of being who we are. If we try to be something specifically, we will always fall short of what we are capable of being.

So much of who we are and what is possible in each of us as human beings, is not known by any of us. Who can imagine a butterfly coming out of a caterpillar? In truly being oneself, this evolution, this change, becomes a natural process. The way we consciously move in that direction is to give ourselves purpose and to act out of the highest sense of purpose that we can imagine in everything that we do – to have that purpose show up in everything that we do.

That is the point of it all. If I am a leader, it is not because I have tried to be. I am simply being myself. I am simply expressing myself to the best of my ability and acting out of the passion and convictions that I feel. I am simply striving to continually move myself forward, to move to higher ground, to live out of a higher sense of purpose – and more and more, to have that constantly reflected in all of my actions.

Yet, as the I Ching says, “I am only following nature.” I follow nature by being true to my natural self, my own inclinations, my own abilities, the things that naturally interest me. I look at who I am and where I am, and I look at what is going on in the world, and I see what I really want to do. I am only following nature.

This is a time – almost more than at any other period in history- for each individual all over the planet- to play a leadership role. 

It doesn’t have to come out of trying to be a leader or carrying the weight of the world on our shoulders. It need not be born out of the responsibility that someone else gives us or from attempting to live up to someone else’s sense of our responsibility. Really, the opportunity that is described in these passages from the I Ching is available to each and every one of us. 

We live in a world where each one of us has to educate ourselves to make conscious choices, to make commitments – and to take a stand about living out of those conscious choices and commitments. Conscious choice and commitment are at the heart of leadership.

…. It is as simple as that:

· Follow nature.

· Value your word.

· Accomplish your tasks.

· Complete your work.”

 

John Denver, 1990

[Excerpt of an article in the Windstar Journal]