LEADERSHIP
2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 428
What every successful civilization needs is leaders.
“Leadership is defined as the ability of an individual or group to influence and guide others towards achieving shared goals. It involves aligning people in a collective direction and enabling them to work together effectively. Key characteristics of good leaders include vision, communication, integrity and the ability to inspire others.” So what does it take to be a leader? To me it includes the following traits:
Act like you speak: The opposite of that is being a hypocrite and, among other things, my sister and I were raised by our parents to believe that “God hates hypocrites.” Thus I would never be inspired by a such a person. But not enough people focus on that.
Communicate by explaining your understanding of what various problems are, how the various people are affected by them and discuss proposed approaches to resolving those problems before you take action whenever possible.
Ask non-confrontational questions, and then listen and ponder when others respond: Leaders show that they care about all people and want to do the right things for the right reasons. So they are non-confrontational unless they have defined some problem areas in which people are acting selfishly and outside of the law.
Pursue accountability at all levels of society, most importantly including yourself.
Be selective about areas in which you choose to take a stand.
So why bring this subject up in this 2 Paragraphs series? Because I really don’t see many leaders in our country today at any level of government. Do you? Instead, the people “pulling the switches” seem intent upon further polarizing our society by pitting one group of people against another. So my answer to this situation is for all of us to try to act as leaders, teach our children and grandchildren to do the same, and seek out and applaud those in government when they do act as leaders as we have defined it. It’s probably the only way that this situation will ever change — for the better. In other words: “If it’s to be it’s up to me.”
Judge Jim Gray (Ret.)
P.S. Enclosed is an article about my two musicals that our 2 Paragraphs Family Member Steve Downing wrote for “The Beachcomber,” which is published every other week in Long Beach. Thank you Steve, and if some of you can use it in your efforts please feel free!
(The rule of “i before e except after c” has been disproved by science.)
Judge Jim Gray (Ret.) Superior Court of Orange County, California 2012 Libertarian Candidate for Vice President
Please listen to our radio show entitled All Rise! The Libertarian Way with Judge Jim Gray as we discuss timely issues and show how they will be addressed more beneficially by employing Libertarian values and approaches. The series has concluded, but you can still hear any edition On Demand at https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/3883. And, by the way, these 2 Paragraphs columns are now on my website at www.JudgeJImGray.com, Facebook and LinkedIn at judgejimgray, Twitter at judgejamesgray, and wordpress at judgejimgray.wordpress.com. Please visit these sites for past editions, and do your part to spread the word about the importance of Liberty. In addition, my new book with the same title as my radio show is now available at Amazon.com., as is my wife Grace’s and my new novel centered about School Choice entitled 2030 KIDS: We are the Rising Heroes of the Planet. Please read and discuss them with your friends, and send in a review.