Rise up a genuine leader Who is driven by moral character and integrity Who commits to truth and responsibility Who models personal discipline and accountability Who earns respect by giving it Who is humble in self-imperfections and gracious in others’ Who nurtures trust and collaboration
Rise up a genuine leader Who is we-oriented, not me-oriented Who articulates vision with clarity and infuses pride in purpose Who disables barriers to people development Who confronts social ills with positive solutions Who seeks understanding and resolutions in contentions Who fosters creativity and inspires hope
Rise up a genuine leader Who can undo chaos and create order Who is composed instead of clamorous Who promotes diversity of viewpoints in unity of purpose Who invests in people and worthy dreams Who is transparent, trustworthy, and teachable Who upholds faith in a better future and spurs actions toward it
Rise up a genuine leader Who values people and ideas over profit Who knows virtue sustains character, but its absence destroys it Who is considerate instead of caustic Who brings competence with candor Who discerns realities with compassion and directs resolutions with care Who influences people to mutually elevate lives, institutions, and ideals.
Rise up a genuine leader Who is attentive to needs of the people and builds their spirit Who overcomes personal ego, arrogance, and unethical behavior Who rejects conflict mongering Who is consistent and persistent in value-added contributions Who equips and empowers other leaders Who builds an enduring legacy of transformational results
In honor of my mom on Mother’s Day, I’ve decided to report on something I wouldn’t normally share publicly. See, Mom was known for her absolutely bizarre dreams. And she has passed that legacy on to me. So as a loving tribute to her, I offer up today’s inexplicable edition from very early this morning. (Thanks for the endowment, Mom! I’m thinkin’ of ya!)
It appeared I had some tiny metal splinters in the middle side of my left forefinger. I tried to grab at them with my right thumb and forefinger, but couldn’t pull them. I then looked closer, and what had looked liked some black fuzz, was now a fully formed, but extremely tiny bird. It was only about a quarter-inch round in size, with bright pink and buff feathers. As I looked, disbelieving what I was seeing, it flew off my finger and lighted on a shelf or half-wall directly in front of a mailbox facing away from me about 7 feet away, and grew into a full-sized duck with similar plumage. I frantically asked Becky to take some pictures of it real quick! I wanted to see if we could identify it.
There were other people standing and talking near me. I still couldn’t trust what I think I saw, and pulled Carol and Ann close so I could whisper into their ears what I witnessed, and see if I was crazy. Then, as I looked again at my finger, which still felt like there was something stuck in it, the wound opened up and appeared as a deep, narrow throat. Looking down it I saw a pair of long black, curlicued antennae, with the tops extending to the top of the “throat.” I grabbed them with my right thumb and forefinger and pulled them up and out. They were attached to a long, narrow black insect, about an inch long, that crawled out as I pulled. I kept hold of it as it struggled to get away, and went over to a nearby sink. (We were neither indoors or outdoors, but both, what with the sink and the street mailbox in close proximity.) And I asked Carol to get something to help me drown it before I let go of it. It was getting bigger all the time, now at about 5 inches, with long legs and curly antennae, and still struggling.
She gave me an odd-shaped cup, like those for measuring laundry detergent, filled with a liquid. I carried it away, crossed the street to what seemed like a boardwalk over the street next to water, and I forced the now 18-inch-long insect’s head into the cup. It seemed to be extremely thirsty and actively drank with its whole head submerged. I then tilted the bug vertically and kept the cup on its head until it stopped moving. It was now about three feet long including antennae and legs, and dead.
I showed it to two men on the boardwalk and explained that it came out of my finger. I had thought it was a splinter! They seemed amazed, but looked at the spot on my left finger, and agreed that it looked like it had had a splinter. The monster bug was now starting to shrivel and shrink. I wanted to get back to show Carol before it shriveled up entirely. But I had to cross a couple street blocks to get back to her. But then there was construction on the parking lot and sidewalk. The sidewalk was all crumbly and taped off closed, and I was in a hurry, and had to backtrack a little to go around the construction site.
Normally my dreams are bizarre, nonsensical mashups of illogical plotlines, coupled with acutely detailed observations. My latest, however, may give some actual insight to better understanding people with autism; or at least, some empathy.
Many autistic people are highly sensitive to all kinds of sensory input, and often cannot prioritize among them, or be able to respond or communicate in ways non-autistic people comprehend or deem appropriate. Many are also intellectually gifted, but ill-equipped to interact with an alternately-oriented world.
My dream visually depicted their outward communication as a load of transparent cylinders crammed with parcels of concepts. Each package was a discrete, labeled thought, wrapped in a different color of cellophane.
I have no image of that dream scene to share, so I will try to describe it as well as I can.
There were several of these cylinders of various sizes and diameters in my view. I understood that the concepts inside had first been compressed into separate thought packages, and then further compacted together to fill each capped and sealed cylinder. They were varying sizes and shapes, like paper-wrapped cuts of meat; and like various sizes of gravel, they filled all the spaces within the cylinder. I was able to read two of them. One larger, pork chop-shaped gray package contained the observation that the individual hairs on the back of a person’s head had gray tips, much like the silver guard hairs on a wolf’s fur. A small red round one counted the ticks of a wristwatch on someone else’s arm in the room. These bundles were stuffed inside the cylinders with all the other encrypted thoughts and impressions, without any order, category, or priority.
The cylinders, then, were the delivery mechanism of self-articulated thoughts and stimuli responses to an outside world. They included no instructions for unpacking, decoding or deciphering the contents.
I have no way of knowing if this visual depiction in any way represents the actualities of an autistic mind and response system. Like many of my dreams, it could be the result of random firings of neurons in my own brain representing sheer nonsense. But it does give me empathy for those who are neurodivergent, and their challenges to communicating with those of us who aren’t.
In Bruce Wilkinson’s wonderfully empowering book The Dream Giver, he spins an allegory about a guy named Ordinary who leaves his comfort zone to pursue his dreams. The further he travels away from the familiar, the more unsettled he becomes, and the more he is oppressed by those opposed to his audacity to dream. He encounters Border Bullies, who try to prevent him from crossing into unfamiliar territory. His tenacity is tested in the Wasteland. And just when the fulfillment of his dream is in sight, he meets Giants, whose self-appointed purpose is to take him down and deny his dream.
If you’ve ever pursued a big dream, you know the tale is true. Some of the obstacles that prevent us from realizing our goals are gigantic. But as leaders, if we are to persist and win, we must find ways to effectively neutralize those Giants, one way or another:
Avoid the Giant. Some problems can simply be avoided, like detouring around a landslide. There may be many routes to your goal. One blocked path doesn’t mean you are deterred, merely detoured.
Redirect the Giant. Some Giants attack simply because they cannot allow any challenge to go unanswered. But if you can convince a Giant that you are not an enemy, and in fact, may share some common goals, you may be able to enlist that Giant’s considerable help by focusing its energies on another target. You may have talented and passionate Giants who have difficulty in comprehending the long-term goal, and unintentionally cause obstructions to your progress. But if that passion can be directed along a parallel path to a mutual aim, you’ve not only removed an obstacle, but have gained a committed ally.
Hinder the Giant. In an effective offensive strategy of a good football team, some members intentionally block the moves of the opposing team while others advance the ball toward the goal. Recognize that your best chance for reaching your goal is not a solo effort. Take time to develop collaborative partnerships and train your teammates in anticipation of necessary strategies.
What tactics can be employed, if necessary, to move beyond the obstacle, huge as it is? Are there any social, legal, economic, or other incentives (or disincentives) to employ? What resources can be added or removed from the state of affairs to mitigate the problem? How may the confounding issue be countered, refuted or reframed? With a well-trained and well-equipped team, your Giant may be controlled or curtailed enough for the dream to be attained.
Conquer the Giant. It is dangerous to approach a Giant. Because of its size, strength, and contrariness, confronting a Giant can be a fearfully intimidating experience. It has the capacity to seal your fate and steal your dream. Confronting the Giant may indeed be a life-and-death matter.
Fear is a natural reaction to facing the unfamiliar, the hazardous, or the unknowable. Yet, the only tonic for fear is courage: intentional action in spite of it. Knowing full well the risks, the dreamer takes a deep draught from the flask of Courage, calculates his steps, and proceeds.
Giants do not easily fall. But even the biggest and most fearsome are not invincible. Conquering them, while difficult, is possible. The dreamer/leader and his or her team must commit all available resources to knowing, acting on, and reacting to their own—and the Giant’s—strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. With persistence, proper knowledge and courageous deeds against the Giant, yield it may.
Like successful dreamers, the most effective leaders find ways to disable the difficulties on the way to achieving the mission. Who or what are your Giants?
MasterPoint:Disable your Giants to achieve your dream.
