Here’s my Monday email to leaders in Reno County from 3/4/13:
In Vol. 4, Issue 2 of the Journal of the Kansas Leadership Center (p.51), Joyce Webb made an interesting few comments about our engagement in the civic arena, especially on issues that are “value-laden.” She writes,
“Effective interventions requires a keen sense of self-awareness and awareness of others, which is really hard to hold onto when the person across the table is polarized. People have territory and values to protect and often get mired in the energy this defensiveness brings.
“Whether one of us agrees with any factions’ opinions or not probably isn’t the issue when it comes to practicing leadership. It’s OK to hold to purpose and not compromise values. But one is always presented with a potential dilemma when deciding to make opinions and beliefs clear.
“This work requires us to be honest, yet challenges us to be intentional in reaching out and embracing those who have different life experiences, beliefs, values, and sometimes fears to protect. It highlights our own beliefs and exposes our own biases and potential losses. It requires tremendous courage, openness and love for our neighbors to be effective.
“That kind of vulnerability seems to be too risky these days for most of us, including myself. But we need a great strategy than playing it safe and doing nothing in order to make progress.
(Webb, Joyce. “When It Comes to Civic Life, We Need To Do More Than ‘Play It Safe’,” in The Journal [published by the Kansas Leadership Center] Volume 4, Issue 2, Fall 2012. Pp.50-51.)
There are many things that resonate with me in what Webb writes, but one issue we consistently encounter is what we might call “Kansas Nice.” We don’t want to cause trouble or a ruckus, so we choose silence and miss out on opportunities for leadership. Now, I’m not suggesting we try to be intentionally unkind or mean-spirited. I am saying that to make progress on issues that matter, it will require us to step into acts of leadership that are risky. We must try to free ourselves out of that ever pressing default mode and find new behaviors that will help us make progress. The competencies like managing self, diagnosing the situation, intervening skillfully and energizing others help give us some different ways of acting in leadership. Today, what strategy will employ to help our community make progress? It might be that rather than helping us make progress, playing it safe will actually hinder progress. At the very least it’s something to think about. At the most, it requires our skillful intervention. Let’s check ourselves on this point, then, and see if we can’t make progress in these areas we are so passionate about.