Democratic Underground - visionary leadership: the ability to not be unduly swayed by goals of those outside your own tent.

I was reading this article about not-for-profit fundraising and it seemed to have a lot of applications to current events and our struggle with our political leadership.

The article is mainly about a not-for-profit that has an untraditional business model and the struggle within their leadership to stay on course despite pressures from a variety of stakeholders.

This microcosm does differ significantly from our current social/political situation because in the case described, everyone has good intentions. In our situation, those who wield their influence are indeed malicious.

Here�s the snip from the article I�m most interested to discuss:

�we are swayed by the influences of those around us. We have conversations with our team, or our funders, or our auditor, or any of the other myriad stakeholders. Often we give inordinate heed to experts, over the voices familiar with our own agendas. This is a risky proposition we would be well served to examine.

Perhaps a useful definition of visionary leadership is the ability to not be unduly swayed by the implied or expressed goals of those outside your own tent. I applaud those few who consistently are able to do so. For the rest of us, I suggest a conscious habit of examining and aligning around appropriate goals. The best defense against unhelpful influences is clarity around our own agenda.

Since my first days at DU, there has been a never-ending debate that might be generally, if perhaps not accurately, described as political pragmatism vs. political idealism. We see our leaders betray our core values. We caution one another not to withdraw our support because the opposition is so much worse, because leaders who cannot compromise cannot be successful, because if we don�t stand behind our leaders, they will never have the strength to stop betraying us.

How do we hold our leaders accountable in an environment where we must also stand united against our corporate overlords and their Republican minions? We must stand united AND we must hold our leaders accountable. I really have no idea how to do this. That�s one reason I�ve always found it easier to work against the Republicans than for the Democrats (although I do both.)

When I read this article, this definition of visionary leadership really appealed to me and I wanted to share it. I would love it if more of our leaders saw themselves this way.

Full article: http://nonprofitfinancefund.org/blog/nice-sprint-you-really-need-work-your-swimming

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