I heard a very inspiring definition of leadership today during a small group discussion on collective leadership and learning. It comes from the book Theory U by Otto Scharmer:
Leadership: The capacity of a system to sense and shape its future. The Indo-European root of the word “leadership,” leith, means “to go forth,” “to cross a threshold,” or “to die.” That root meaning, which suggests that the experience of letting go and then going forth into another world that begins to take shape only once we overcome the fear of stepping into the unknown, is at the very heart and essence of leadership.
We’ve all got skills and talents and ideas. For young nonprofit professionals with incredible idealism and passion to boot, it seems that the only thing standing between the problems and the solutions is having the courage to step forward and take action. In my own leadership journey, I’m trying my best to remember that letting go and stepping out into that space of risk and uncertainty is the only way we can make social change.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was only 26 years old when he led the Montgomery bus boycott that helped to change the future of this country. Contrary to popular belief, he was not superhuman; but he was in fact a dedicated young person with a vision who took action for what he believed in. So it seems there is only one question for us to answer today:
What do you believe in with your heart so deeply that would grant you the courage to step up to lead in helping to change our world?
