Time to be our own heroes

Though I don’t imagine President Biden fetched the items from storage himself it was interesting to note the leaders he reintroduced to the Oval Office on day one – busts of Martin Luther King Jr, Rosa Parks and Robert F Kennedy, all prime movers in Civil Rights. The portraits of George Washington and Abraham Lincoln have been paired together. There’s also a bust of Mexican-American labour leader Cesar Chavez.

The message of unity in diversity is a strong one, visually at least, as is the homage to leaders of America’s past.

Whilst we can learn much from the lessons of leaders in history – the good and the less so – we need to define a new leadership, one that’s appropriate to these turbulent times while integrating the best of previous generations. This is about becoming our own leadership heroes though not by buying into the classic traits of the hero leader.

More than ever the way we lead needs to be founded in love for our fellow human beings and for all life, now and for the future. It must be characterised by humility, by openness to learning and open-mindedness to new ideas and perspectives, irrespective of the source.

It needs to span the micro – the needs and concerns of each individual we lead, and the macro – the impact our organisation has on the communities it serves and the wider world, based on a deep understanding of the wider system of which we’re a part. It must unite and bring others into collaboration.

And it needs to be seen as an act of service, effort invested with love, respect, a passion to make things better, and the courage to persist. Living our leadership in this way has something quietly heroic about it. More important is the contribution it will make to creating a better world for all.