{"id":27364,"date":"2021-03-17T19:31:06","date_gmt":"2021-03-18T02:31:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/?p=27364"},"modified":"2021-03-17T19:31:06","modified_gmt":"2021-03-18T02:31:06","slug":"ordinary-love","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/ordinary-love\/","title":{"rendered":"Ordinary Love*"},"content":{"rendered":"
*the title of a U2 song written for the 2013 film “Long Walk to Freedom,” based on Nelson Mandela’s book.<\/h5>\n
\n

We can’t fall any further if<\/em>
\nWe can’t feel ordinary love<\/em>
\nAnd we can’t reach any higher,<\/em>
\nIf we can’t deal with ordinary love<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

When we think of \u201cfront stage\u201d leadership, Simon Walker\u2019s description of \u201cCommanding,\u201d \u201cPacesetting,\u201d and \u201cAffiliative\u201d strategies seem fairly obvious. Even the \u201cVisionary\u201d strategy seems like a fit from a \u201cdynamic back-stage\u201d[1]<\/a> perspective. However, Walker places the \u201cConsensual\u201d strategy as an \u201cattentive front-stage\u201d style in which the leader \u201cworks collaboratively toward group goals\u2026 (and) may abdicate responsibility.\u201d[2]<\/a> Walker\u2019s example for this strategy is Nelson Mandela.<\/p>\n

Walker writes, \u201cyou might look at Consensual leadership and feel at once how weak and fragile it is\u2026.It feels more like a gentle, self-effacing and fundamentally collective <\/em>approach\u2026.(The) essence of the PWC strategy is to build up the strength of the relationships between people.\u201d[3]<\/a> When Nelson Mandela was released from prison in 1990, he faced the challenge of seeking to unite his country by securing support of his own people and earning the trust of the white population. \u201cIn that effort, Mandela\u2019s obvious integrity, combined with the wisdom and moral authority he had acquired over the years of suffering patiently endured, gave his voice power and credibility.\u201d[4]<\/a><\/p>\n

What made Mandela successful, and what makes the Consensual strategy effective, is \u201cstrengthening the \u2018spaces\u2019 between people. In technical terms, this is what is known as \u2018social capital.\u2019\u2026(The) notion that a community\u2019s wealth lies not just in people\u2019s pockets or their brains but in their relationships- their trust of and commitment to one another.\u201d[5]<\/a><\/p>\n

In his book, \u201cBowling Alone,\u201d Robert Putnam explores social capital both for how it can bond people together in tight, inwardly-focused ways or bridge people, connecting them more loosely and more broadly. He also outlines how social capital, while sounding very positive, can also be understood and used in negative ways as well.[6]<\/a> Social capital is a way of thinking about how different relational systems and spheres of influence intersect with each other.<\/p>\n

Walker describes Mandela\u2019s leadership as one with \u201ca deliberate commitment to build the social capital of the \u2026 nation.\u201d[7]<\/a> This is statesmanship with a purpose that is much bigger than the leader. For Mandela, the challenge was crystal clear. During apartheid, social capital drained quickly due to lack of trust and the power structure which gave privilege to a few at the expense of the many. It was not enough for people to merely get along. The political structure had to be redeveloped. Mandela\u2019s predecessor, F.W. de Klerk, was key in making this happen as he took steps to end apartheid knowing it would cost his personal and political power. Mandela built on this as he sought to unite the country.<\/p>\n

I can’t fight you anymore
\nIt’s you I’m fighting for.\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThe vision that must inform a PWC strategy and underwrite its values is one of a common humanity, that sees people as equally human, possessing equal worth and dignity. No other vision will prove strong enough to withstand our tendency to sectarianism.\u201d[8]<\/a> Last fall, Jer Swigart blogged about his participation in a peacemaking effort during a time of racially-charged tension in central Oregon. He wrote, \u201cwe need to learn to walk like Jesus, a truly differentiated leader, in relationship and ever at the pace of trust.\u201d[9]<\/a> Whether we are trying to unite a divided nation, heal a fractured church, or bring restoration in a broken family, the important work an undefended leader is to be strong enough stand in the tension as trust and social capital is being cultivated.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> These are broad-stroke generalizations from Walker\u2019s diagram in \u201cThe Undefended Leader\u201d page 192.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> Simon Walker, \u201cThe Undefended Leader,\u201d (Carlisle, UK: Piquant, 2010,) 192.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Ibid, 265.<\/p>\n

[4]<\/a> Ibid, 264.<\/p>\n

[5]<\/a> Ibid, 266.<\/p>\n

[6]<\/a> Robert Putnam, \u201cBowling Alone: The Collapse and Revival of American Community,\u201d (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2020,) 19-22.<\/p>\n

[7]<\/a> Walker, 267.<\/p>\n

[8]<\/a> Ibid, 271.<\/p>\n

[9]<\/a> Jer Swigart, \u201cWalk at the Pace of Trust,\u201d dminlgp, October 6, 2020, https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dminlgp\/walk-at-the-pace-of-trust\/<\/a>, accessed March 17, 2021.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

*the title of a U2 song written for the 2013 film “Long Walk to Freedom,” based on Nelson Mandela’s book. We can’t fall any further if We can’t feel ordinary love And we can’t reach any higher, If we can’t deal with ordinary love\u00a0 When we think of \u201cfront stage\u201d leadership, Simon Walker\u2019s description of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":133,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1972,1722],"class_list":["post-27364","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-robert-putnam","tag-simon-walker","cohort-lgp10"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27364","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/133"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27364"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27364\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":27366,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27364\/revisions\/27366"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27364"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27364"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27364"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}