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In these doubly busy times, I’m striving to keep it simple. Here’s my favorite quote from Mohandas Gandhi and a few quick thoughts about it:
“The more efficient a force is, the more silent and the more subtle it is.
Love is the subtlest force in the world.”
I don’t know about you, but I want efficiency and I want to utilize a “force.” Which makes me wonder — as dad, prof, business man, etc. — Just how do leaders love? Here are three simple reflections. What are yours?
1. They nurture their own goodness (their store of love). How? They seek out — and let in — that which ennobles and energizes them: the care of others, the beauty of nature, laughter, and if they’re lucky enough to experience it, the love of G-d. If love is as awesome a force as Gandhi posits, then I want to be infused with that force.
2. They cultivate their ability to see, savor and to celebrate the good in others. In lay terms, they seek out and point out goodness, sincerely and often.
3. They know their role is not to judge others (although frequently they have to assess the behavior of others). Thus, they observe with compassion (as they would want to be observed). They give the benefit of the doubt, as they would want to be given that wonderful benefit. Their inclination is to see the good and good faith in others. Where others seem rude, angry, or duplicitous, they check their own perceptions and hold off the judgment that bad behavior means a bad person. They seek to see the good, even when others seem to offer ill.
And, if doing so seems crazy, impossible, or dangerous, they ask themselves: But what if I am made of and made for love? How do I find within myself that most subtle and efficient force that will allow me truly to
Lead with my best self!
Dan
I have often tried to articulate point number 3 without success. Thank you very much for your discernment on the difference between judgement and observation.
Thank you so much for those wonderful reminders of truth this morning. How easy it is to react to reactive behaviors! How harmonizing it is to notice our own anxiety in response, and choose to see the goodness in the person anyway! I am grateful for you insight and leadership
I would add 4. Love moves us to be patient. We may need to endure the mistakes of others and choose the less expeditious path to secure the greatest long-term gain. The old quote goes we may win the battle but lose the war. Our war is not conquest or dominance but harmony and growth. (I seek self-growth and growth on the part of those I interact with.) What type of growth you may ask? Growth can be on many levels and appear in many ways, the only limit would likely be physical growth for most. But with children, my own especially, I also desire good physical growth relating to good nutrition, exercise etc… The course of self-restraint requires great power on the part of the person displaying the quality and can have a powerful effect upon others.
Dan, you need to study the problem of psychopaths. I have encountered a few in the tea/ Republican Party. They lie, play mind games, set people against the person they target. They make it seem like the target causes the problems, that the psychopath himself causes. These are clever persons, but the kind of person who needs to be identified as such. I do not see that love will end their games and deceit, the destruction of humanity, some of who seem to relish. I know one who works for a Congressman. That psychopath is nearly idolized by some of fans.