Fool me once…
I admit that I was super excited when I saw the word anxiety. I immediately thought, “finally something I know something about”. I quickly changed my view as the author reminded the reader that this was not a book about traditional anxiety. It still sparked my interest. At some part I felt as if this author had met me. I knew it was not possible but then I started to highlight pages and screen shot them because this book fooled me once and I didn’t want to be fooled again.
The author caught my attention when he spoke about risk taking. The word risk could be my middle name. I immediately compared risk taking to walking by faith. I understood as a christian that having faith was something we use lightly. I believe in God, we say as christians but when circumstances arise do we believe that same God will sustain us? Do you actually believe that you can start a business, get a doctorate, raise a child that’s not yours, beat Lupus, run a charity, and your existing business. Do you believe that you can take that risk? I was definitely replying … yes, yes, yes.
Slightly after being led down the of road thinking that this was the book for me, my opinion changed. The author begin to sound as if it was a “you against the world leadership”. I was somewhat disappointed in the fact that there is a leadership that still exist that feels that they don’t need to consider others. I begin to compare this type leadership to local school systems in my state. Although it is a known fact that there is a direct correlation between the way the system operates and the probability of that system leading to the incarceration for students, little has changed. My thoughts are that there might be a level of leadership that is choosing to lead without regard.
I am not an expert in leading and I am not a popular published author but I am a human being. As a human there is a natural need for other human interaction. There is a need to have support. How could we live or thrive in this world alone and what purpose would it serve. If we operated in this sense would we as christians be operating in the leadership of the Lord.
With every intention, I want to follow and lead by what is instructed of God. Though the author does a good job of describing how he believes that leadership would be effective, his principle are not congruent to the works of an effective christian leader. My carnal mind was slightly disappointed that at first I compared myself to this work. My spiritual mind thought about how easily it was to be fooled. When trying to gain knowledge, become more efficient and lead others you can be led in the wrong direction. The christian, then the leader in you must be vigilant at all times for what may stop you from carrying out Gods work. I myself will admit it did fool me once, but I won’t let it happen again.
About the Author
Shonell Dillon
A daughter of the KING of kings and the LORD of lords. A lover of LIFE!3 responses to “Fool me once…”
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Shonell,
When you stated this:
“I was super excited when I saw the word anxiety. I immediately thought, “finally something I know something about”
I thought the same way! I am curious how you have been able to help your clients with anxiety? Have there been some grounding techniques that have proven to be helpful for your clients?
I am praying for the following:
You stated that you are doing the following:
“start a business, get a doctorate, raise a child that’s not yours, beat Lupus, run a charity, and your existing business.”
That is a lot! I pray that Jesus continues to sustain you! May I ask what business are you starting?
Hi Shonnell,
Your honest assessment of this book is so valuable and insightful. There is much I appreciate about Friedman’s approach to leadership. There is a great need for leaders to be self-differentiated as they lead upstream towards a better future in a world where people are comfortable with where they are and are anxious about change (avoiding risk and adventure). However, he does, in my opinion, push a little too far where, as your mentioned, it opens the door to a “me, the leader, against the world” mentality. This flies in the face of the need for leaders to stay connected with the people they lead. Leaders who lead alone are at best unhealthy and, at worst, dangerous. Thank you for bringing this to light in your post Shonnell!
Bring it! I was just thinking of our leadership conversation and was looking forward to reading your post. I’m curious what it would look like to flesh out the ways in which bad leadership perpetuates the incarceration of Black and Brown students and identify the points of overlap with Friedman’s picture of a leader. I’m looking forward to more posts that tie in how what we’re reading about leadership affects you, your faith, and your community!