This Week's Quotation:
If your actions create a legacy that inspires others to dream more, learn more, do more, and become more, then you are an excellent leader.
~ Dolly Parton
Who is Your Leader?
Rev. Berry Behr, Global Interfaith Ambassador
Time Magazine describes 2024 as the ultimate election year as more than 64 countries, containing almost 50% of the world’s population, head to the polls. That means half the world is thinking about leadership issues right now. What do we ask of our leaders?
A female friend was devastated when a male “leadership expert” told her that she was not a leader and that she did not tick the boxes for that role. She felt unseen, unvalued, unheard, and undermined. As she shared her experience, we wondered why leadership must fit any particular box. Leadership looks different from one day to the next—it is a personal response to an inner impulse to meet an outer circumstance.
Who decides what that means from one moment to the next? We thought about how linear definitions often favour men and asked: “What if men and women supported each other in fulfilling our missions? What if people simply said: “That’s a great idea. How can I help?” I know some people like that. They are gold.
Today, I met with a friend whose only intention is to serve and heal a broken collective. This woman lost a son, gunned down by gangsters because he did not comply with their demands. In her grief, the bereft mother reached out to others in her neighbourhood who have endured a similar horror. It’s a small, tight community. One mother in the group lost her son to the gun of another son whose mother is also in the group. My friend helped the two women reconcile, forgive, and support each other in their different but connected journeys. It was hard! But finally, the community won: violence and separation were not legitimised.
What powerful leadership! My friend was invited by a political party to step into a more prominent community leadership role, but she declined humbly. “I am not a leader like that,” she said. “My heart wants to serve my people in this way.”
We are all leaders in our own world, and we must each define for ourselves what that means as we explore our own sovereignty. Once we define and own our personal leadership, we may be better placed to identify and attract the kind of leaders we want around us and in our governments. Our world needs authentic leadership that is attuned to service to the Greater Good. Your story, vision, and service—delivered in your own unique and inspired way—are vital for building a better world.
Join us to write a book about how we are ALL building peace worldwide.
About Open Windows
We, the authors of this blog, dedicate it to the transparent exploration of the world’s sacred scripture and enlightened spiritual thought. We believe that the original inspiration of all faiths comes from a common source, named and revered in a myriad of ways. With that understanding, the innumerable symbols, beliefs, and practices of faith cease to divide. They become open windows to a common reality that inspires and unifies us. We find deeper insight and nourishment in our own faith and from the expression of faith from others.
We hope these weekly quotations and meditations speak to your heart and soul.
Right on, Dolly. Write on, Berry! Love, Tom
So beautifully put!!!! As we all realize that we are always Leaders to someone – especially children – we find ourselves behaving more often in ways that can change our world for the better – faster!