More of the Same and More for the Change. Authority vs. Leadership, McCain vs. Obama.
Diary
I can't tell you how angry I was, watching the RNC and seeing everyone sneer at Community Organizing. I'm a social worker, so as Jon Stewart said, I saw this as a "fuck you, you dumb motherfuckers for thinking you could make a difference in your community." Community Organizing requires leadership, much like executive leadership, but it empowers everyone so that they too can become leaders. That's tough. That's social work. And that can be you. Most people lead by demonstrating authority. Community Organizers lead by exercising leadership.
Here is an example of what that looks like, as written by Ronald Heifetz, a business man who writes about this kind of leadership:
"The function of an authority figure is to right the ship, maintain equilibrium, keep things on an even keel. People expect an authority figure to be comforting. Someone exercising leadership is probably generating disequilibrium. Either he is raising issues or asking questions that disturb people and force people to come to terms with points of view or problems that they would rather not consider; or he's protecting other people in the organization who are creating disequilibrium."
"I define leadership as an activity, not as a set of personality characteristics. So what I'm interested in is developing people's capacity to perform a particular activity, and I call this activity "leadership." And the activity of leadership I define as the mobilization of the resources of a people or of an organization to make progress on the difficult problems it faces."
"Notice that I am not talking about routine problems; I don't think they require leadership. I'm talking about difficult problems. In those situations, someone exercising leadership is orchestrating the process of getting factions with competing definitions of the problem to start learning from one another."
This means that no one who wants to lead is intrinsically special. We don't need a mandate from anyone. All of us already have the tools to be leaders. We can all ask questions, cooperate with each other or play the devil's advocate. We can inspire others by example. We don't have to demonstrate our power by spending money, starting wars or intimidating others into silence.
Why the conservative sneers at Community Organizing? Because that kind of leadership not only challenges the status quo but puts power in the hands of everyone. Think about it. Democracy in action. It can be scary. No one is left off the hook. We are all responsible for the well being of our town, our city, our country, our planet. Everyone is held accountable. This is a humanistic and communal point of view, while conservatives tend to have a more individualistic or clan oriented point of view. So, Community Organizing has the potential to destroy the very foundations of conservatism, even though Community Organizing can be used to support "traditional" values. Check out my icon. Can you say that any of those people were against the "traditional values" of family, religion, hard work and independence?
What Community Organizing won't support is power in the hands of the few. That is something that some Republicans AND some Democrats can't stand. So the current people in power must mock, belittle and scare us away from Community Organizing. Mass Responsibility demands Mass Accountability.
So, if you want your vote to count, if you really want your voice to be heard, that means you have to be prepared to pitch in and take responsibility and demand accountability from ourselves and for each other. Is McCain/Palin the ticket that is going to encourage the "little guy" to be an active part of the process- even after the elections? The Obama/Biden ticket, which has already used the communal grassroots approach to include the "little guy" in the campaign process, is this the ticket that will give you more options, more choices, more opportunities to lead?
No ticket is perfect. But which ticket is more likely to empower you? Both styles will tell us how to solve our own problems, but which ticket will support and encourage your efforts, unafraid to offer the government's help/resources when needed and which one will say "Your are on your own. Good Luck with that!"
I'm dreago, I approve this message, I'm trying to find a social workers for change window sign.
Icon by xdawnfirex_art
I can't tell you how angry I was, watching the RNC and seeing everyone sneer at Community Organizing. I'm a social worker, so as Jon Stewart said, I saw this as a "fuck you, you dumb motherfuckers for thinking you could make a difference in your community." Community Organizing requires leadership, much like executive leadership, but it empowers everyone so that they too can become leaders. That's tough. That's social work. And that can be you. Most people lead by demonstrating authority. Community Organizers lead by exercising leadership.
Here is an example of what that looks like, as written by Ronald Heifetz, a business man who writes about this kind of leadership:
"The function of an authority figure is to right the ship, maintain equilibrium, keep things on an even keel. People expect an authority figure to be comforting. Someone exercising leadership is probably generating disequilibrium. Either he is raising issues or asking questions that disturb people and force people to come to terms with points of view or problems that they would rather not consider; or he's protecting other people in the organization who are creating disequilibrium."
"I define leadership as an activity, not as a set of personality characteristics. So what I'm interested in is developing people's capacity to perform a particular activity, and I call this activity "leadership." And the activity of leadership I define as the mobilization of the resources of a people or of an organization to make progress on the difficult problems it faces."
"Notice that I am not talking about routine problems; I don't think they require leadership. I'm talking about difficult problems. In those situations, someone exercising leadership is orchestrating the process of getting factions with competing definitions of the problem to start learning from one another."
This means that no one who wants to lead is intrinsically special. We don't need a mandate from anyone. All of us already have the tools to be leaders. We can all ask questions, cooperate with each other or play the devil's advocate. We can inspire others by example. We don't have to demonstrate our power by spending money, starting wars or intimidating others into silence.
Why the conservative sneers at Community Organizing? Because that kind of leadership not only challenges the status quo but puts power in the hands of everyone. Think about it. Democracy in action. It can be scary. No one is left off the hook. We are all responsible for the well being of our town, our city, our country, our planet. Everyone is held accountable. This is a humanistic and communal point of view, while conservatives tend to have a more individualistic or clan oriented point of view. So, Community Organizing has the potential to destroy the very foundations of conservatism, even though Community Organizing can be used to support "traditional" values. Check out my icon. Can you say that any of those people were against the "traditional values" of family, religion, hard work and independence?
What Community Organizing won't support is power in the hands of the few. That is something that some Republicans AND some Democrats can't stand. So the current people in power must mock, belittle and scare us away from Community Organizing. Mass Responsibility demands Mass Accountability.
So, if you want your vote to count, if you really want your voice to be heard, that means you have to be prepared to pitch in and take responsibility and demand accountability from ourselves and for each other. Is McCain/Palin the ticket that is going to encourage the "little guy" to be an active part of the process- even after the elections? The Obama/Biden ticket, which has already used the communal grassroots approach to include the "little guy" in the campaign process, is this the ticket that will give you more options, more choices, more opportunities to lead?
No ticket is perfect. But which ticket is more likely to empower you? Both styles will tell us how to solve our own problems, but which ticket will support and encourage your efforts, unafraid to offer the government's help/resources when needed and which one will say "Your are on your own. Good Luck with that!"
I'm dreago, I approve this message, I'm trying to find a social workers for change window sign.
Icon by xdawnfirex_art