ATTRIBUTES OF A LEADER, PART III. . .

This morning, gentle reader, we will continue our brief exploration of what are my five most important ‘Attributes of a Leader.’ Given your philosophy of leading, your list might include different attributes. So, I invite you to consider mine and if you so choose to send me yours. Thus far we have briefly explored ‘Integrity’ and ‘Being Vulnerable/Vulnerability.’

DISCERNMENT – Consider that Discernment is the faculty that enables us to perceive and understand that which is not immediately or readily available. The role-defined Leader is charged with being awake and aware to discerning ‘nuance’ and ‘changing realities.’ Discernment is interesting as it is a ‘both-and’: It is a ‘gift’ and it is an ‘ability.’ Both can lie dormant for years. Both can be developed and enhanced. The Leader’s capacity for discernment can be developed and like all capacities if it is not used on a regular basis it will atrophy.

Consider, if you will, that the Leader whose thinking is more ‘concrete’ than ‘abstract,’ who is challenged to ‘see the gray/grey areas’ and who believes that ‘hard’ always trumps ‘soft’ might well not list ‘Discernment’ as a necessary attribute. A major reason for this is that this Leader seems to believe that ‘nuance’ itself is not important. For the Leader who is rooted in the ‘concrete,’ being open to ‘nuance’ also opens the doors of ‘abstraction,’ ‘ambiguity,’ ‘complexity,’ and ‘doubt.’ These tend to generate moderate to high anxiety within this Leader and thus the anxious Leader rooted in the ‘concrete’ tends to lean more toward ‘reaction’ than ‘response.’ ‘Reaction’ for this Leader is a sign that he or she is not in ‘control’ and not being in control is abhorrent to him/her. One result then, is that this Leader often finds it a stretch, if not an outright challenge, to seek out and embrace abstraction, ambiguity, complexity and doubt.

The effective role-defined Leaders I have known who are rooted in the ‘concrete’ developed into being effective Leaders because they came to appreciate the value of and the need for ‘Discernment.’ They did not develop this ‘gift’ or ‘ability’ – they made sure that folks who had developed this attribute were his/her ‘thought-partners.’ As I sit here this morning, I can recall two leaders who were rooted in the ‘concrete’ and who spent a great deal of time and energy nurturing the discernment that resided dormant within themselves. When I met them they had already developed their capacity for discernment. They remained rooted in the concrete AND they had discerned the value of discernment for themselves.

I conclude this morning with a quote from Pope Francis (the current Pope): My choices, including those related to the day-to-day aspects of life, like the use of a modest car, are related to a spiritual discernment that responds to a need that arises from looking at things, at people and from reading the signs of the times. Discernment guides me in my way of governing.