It’s a fascinating time in history when leaders must rise above the fray. More often, tragedy, peril and the unexpected flood national news channels and social media.
At the time, leaders must take pause. There is an obligation to empathize and to also be at the forefront of viable discourse and solutions to problems. Here are a few considerations.
First, it is important to leverage your position and bully pulpit to share a message of hope. What great leaders do is offer solutions and action not just rhetoric or perpetual focus on the problems. Some ways that leaders can be deliberate in their steps for action include the following:
- Identify underlying issues
- Find solutions
- Take action
By thinking through the issues then there can be careful consideration about opportunities to rise up against the messages of despair!
As leaders, we need to adopt a broader perspective. Like Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. with his leadership in various communities during the 1960s, we must consider what is beyond our own sphere of influence and community. It requires us to consider expanding our ability to address conflicting views and at the same time commit to listening no matter how challenging.
With over 20 years of advocacy and community-building, I feel more compelled now than ever to encourage people to stand up and speak up and do so with civility and mindfulness. Here’s a short recap of a video message on community engagement.
And if you’re interested in another solution guide, I offer as a helpful resource via an audiobook entitled More Effective Community Engagement. Included are my strategies for community leaders to foster creative involvement. If not now, then when?
Be enlightened. Be enriched. Be empowered.
