{"id":24568,"date":"2019-10-24T15:13:32","date_gmt":"2019-10-24T22:13:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=24568"},"modified":"2019-10-24T15:13:32","modified_gmt":"2019-10-24T22:13:32","slug":"divided-or-diverse-a-call-to-shift-the-national-narrative","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/divided-or-diverse-a-call-to-shift-the-national-narrative\/","title":{"rendered":"Divided or Diverse? A Call to Shift the National Narrative"},"content":{"rendered":"

Monday was a significant day for Canadians. Our federal elections revealed a considerable shift in party support across the nation over the last four years and deep differences determined by region. We elected a liberal minority government, maintaining a liberal prime minister, but have two provinces without a single liberal representative. The Bloc Qu\u00e9b\u00e9cois, a party which exists only in Qu\u00e9bec, had enough support to hold the third highest number of seats in the House of Commons, and now holds the balance of power within this minority government. The easy, and most popular narrative this week is that we are a nation which is deeply divided.<\/a>[1]<\/p>\n

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The cost of accepting this narrative, is that it further nurtures the high societal anxiety that produced these election results. If we accept that the interests in one part of the country are in competition with those in another part, we only nurture fear by implying only one side can \u2018win\u2019 in an outcome that can only be \u2018win-lose\u2019. Dutch leadership specialist, Manfred F. R. Kets de Vries is the Distinguished Clinical Professor of Leadership Development and Organisational Change at INSEAD, France who brings experience in economics, management, and psychoanalysis to his research and writing.<\/a>[2] He offers that this \u201c survival of the fittest mentality is a breeding ground for paranoia and anxiety. The culture of fear makes people resort to social defenses to deal with stress in the workplace\u2013they turn a blind eye to difficult emotions, topics or relations. \u2026[which] prevents them from taking the kinds of constructive action that would eliminate the sources of stress or threat in the first place.\u201d<\/a>[3] We might note a growing similarity to our southern neighbour, whose own leadership specialist Edwin Friedman described the situation as thus: \u201cits fundamental character has [] been shaped into an illusive and often compulsive search for safety and certainty\u2026 The anxiety is so deep within the emotional processes of our nation that it is almost as though a neurosis has become nationalized.\u201d<\/a>[4]The rise in populism within western cultures suggests this anxiety is manifesting across Europe as well.<\/a>[5] For the moment, Canada has not succumbed to this extreme (having rejected the newly formed People\u2019s Party of Canada by denying them even a single seat). But as Canadians we would be wise to recognize the risk of allowing fear and insecurity to ferment. Instead we must reclaim narratives of hope.<\/p>\n

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The church has long been a place where stories are told. For centuries, pre-literate Jewish communities relied on oral tradition to shape identities. Early Christianity picked up the shift to the public reading of the Old Testament books and newly adopted letters and writings of the narrators of the emerging church. Today the practice of reading scripture and preaching carries on this call to shape identity and release the hope Jesus invites us to through story-telling. A recent article identified that English as a major had decreased by 25%, but that more then ever \u201c\u2026 stories matter. What people tell each other can have profound implications on markets \u2014 and the overall economy.\u201d<\/a>[6] To be clear, stories don\u2019t just explain the economy, but have the power to determine it. A key role of the church is, and must continue to be, as people who tell the story of hope in contextualised, unifying ways. The church has long recognised the Enemy\u2019s strategy of dividing people from each other. We have failed many times throughout our history, but we continue to repent and learn as we preserve unity as a core value. As a result we have many traditions in how to contend for unity across difference, including meals, service, communal action, concern for the vulnerable. Kets de Vries signals that \u201cAlthough life is everything but a rose garden, the most effective response to an existential crisis is to build caring relationships, seek out empathic listeners, and embark on meaningful pursuits\u2013however small. We need to treasure the simple pleasures of life: walking in nature, admiring a sunset, reading a book, a good conversation, the company of loved ones, and seeing our children grow up.\u201d<\/a>[7] Prioritizing such practices in community can help us embody hope, reduce anxiety and reposition us all for meaningful, deep engagement in the problems facing our nation and world across positional lines. Further, such practices create space for the needed self-differentiation to raise up non-anxious leaders<\/a>[8] both for the church and to send out into the wider community. \u201cGiven the perfect storm our world is currently experiencing\u2013unstable leaders at the top, chinks in European unity, environmental fears, wars, and financial meltdowns\u2013we need to develop leaders with character, people who can deal with complex and difficult situations, and are forces for good.\u201d<\/a>[9] We need leaders who can not only tell the story that \u2018diversity is our strength\u2019<\/a>[10], but who have the strategies to embody this story. May Christ raise up the story-telling leaders we so desperately need to become a force for good, by redeeming our national narrative and leading us to powerful, united, actions.<\/p>\n

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<\/a>[1] \u201c’Canada Is More Divided Today,’ Says Political Scientist on Election Results | CBC News,\u201d CBCnews (CBC\/Radio Canada, October 22, 2019), https:\/\/www.cbc.ca\/news\/canada\/newfoundland-labrador\/election-results-tomblin-reaction-1.5330155.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[2] \u201cManfred F. R. Kets De Vries – Faculty Profile,\u201d INSEAD, October 23, 2019, https:\/\/www.insead.edu\/faculty-research\/faculty\/manfred-f-r-kets-de-vries.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[3] Kets De Vries loc 602.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[4] Edwin H. Friedman, Margaret M. Treadwell, and Edward W. Beal, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (New York: Church Publishing, 2017), Kindle loc 1147.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[5] William A. Galston, \u201cThe Rise of European Populism and the Collapse of the Center-Left,\u201d Brookings (Brookings, March 8, 2018), https:\/\/www.brookings.edu\/blog\/order-from-chaos\/2018\/03\/08\/the-rise-of-european-populism-and-the-collapse-of-the-center-left\/.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[6] Heather Long, \u201cThe World’s Top Economists Just Made the Case for Why We Still Need English Majors,\u201d The Washington Post (WP Company, October 19, 2019), https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/business\/2019\/10\/19\/worlds-top-economists-just-made-case-why-we-still-need-english-majors\/.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[7] Kets De Vries, Manfred F. R, Down the Rabbit Hole of Leadership: Leadership Pathology in Everyday Life (S.l.: Palgrave Macmillan, 2019), Kindle loc 2678.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[8] As defined by Edwin H. Friedman, Margaret M. Treadwell, and Edward W. Beal, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix (New York: Church Publishing, 2017).<\/p>\n

<\/a>[9] Kets de Vries loc 1345.<\/p>\n

<\/a>[10] \u201c\u2018Diversity Is Canada’s Strength,\u2019\u201d Prime Minister of Canada, accessed October 24, 2019, https:\/\/pm.gc.ca\/en\/news\/speeches\/2015\/11\/26\/diversity-canadas-strength.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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