{"id":28119,"date":"2022-01-28T19:54:07","date_gmt":"2022-01-29T03:54:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=28119"},"modified":"2022-01-28T19:54:07","modified_gmt":"2022-01-29T03:54:07","slug":"nerve-a-key-ingredient-for-historical-and-contemporary-leadership","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/nerve-a-key-ingredient-for-historical-and-contemporary-leadership\/","title":{"rendered":"Nerve: a key ingredient for historical and contemporary leadership"},"content":{"rendered":"

Perhaps few books on leadership compare with Edwin Friedman\u2019s Failure of Nerve<\/em>, a critical examination of contemporary American leadership against the background 15th<\/sup> and 16th<\/sup> century European leadership. Using Europe\u2019s transition from a millennium of uneventful ordinariness to a glorious era of innovation, art, exploration, discovery and expansion[1]<\/a>, Friedman argues that, today like in the past, anxiety stifles imagination, fun, adventure, relevance and advancement within marriages, families, congregations, corporations, and state agencies – basically everywhere.<\/p>\n

While the disruptions of Covid, globalization, climate change and other developments might seem to be great reasons for anxiety, Friedman shows that these challenging conditions do not differ much from past events. In this way, Friedman uses history as a platform for hope. This is both pragmatic and therapeutic with important implications for leadership within low-income communities, the context that I am privileged to serve in.<\/p>\n

First, there is hope because history shows that every country\/world region has experienced poverty at some point in their development. Since many have overcome it, there is no need for anxiety. On the contrary, as Friedman suggests with the story of Prince Henry the Navigator who funded the exploratory research of Columbus[2]<\/a>, low-income communities should explore new business possibilities and adventure into trades, products, services and industries as God may direct them. Obviously, this does not negate the need for in-depth market research and strategic planning. The old European explorers were guided by maps and other cartographic inputs which, though not as accurate as today\u2019s maps, provided significant value in discoveries that have changed the world.<\/p>\n

Another important implication Failure of Nerve<\/em> has for low-income communities is that since mistakes are generally inevitable according to history, the poor should not be afraid of making honest mistakes. Indeed, the road to greatness anywhere is paved with mistakes, albeit mistakes made in the process of people doing the best they can with the knowledge they have. Friedman points out that 15th<\/sup> and 16th<\/sup> century cartographers created maps which were sometimes quite wrong. One example is a map that claimed California is an island. However, he points out that the price paid for making mistakes ultimately pales in comparison to the value gained in adventure and exploration based on the information known at the time. Similarly, members of low-income-communities may gather information from several key sources and use this in exploring holistic asset-based community development within their neighborhoods.<\/p>\n

Finally, Failure of Nerve<\/em> implies that it is imperative that leaders within low-income communities operate with courage. This is not a denial of the injustices, woundedness, deprivation or broken systems within poor communities. On the contrary, it is a call to abandon the anxiety that cripples leadership potential to developing the \u201cnerve,\u201d or guts<\/em>, needed for the battle for the God-given destiny of marriages, families, congregations, companies and communities everywhere. Perhaps this is why, at the very beginning of his calling to lead Israel, Joshua is repeatedly challenged to be \u201cstrong and courageous.\u201d[3]<\/a> Given the levels of decadence in the social institutions among low-income communities, it is not difficult to see why courageous leadership is needed. Combining this with self-differentiation, meditation, prayer and other disciplines could significantly transform low-income communities.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a> Friedman, Edwin H., Margaret M. Treadwell, and Edward W. Beal.\u00a0A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix<\/em>. (New York: Seabury Books, 2017. Kindle), location 748.<\/p>\n

[2]<\/a> (Friedman et al) location 914.<\/p>\n

[3]<\/a> Joshua 1:6,7,9<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Perhaps few books on leadership compare with Edwin Friedman\u2019s Failure of Nerve, a critical examination of contemporary American leadership against the background 15th and 16th century European leadership. Using Europe\u2019s transition from a millennium of uneventful ordinariness to a glorious era of innovation, art, exploration, discovery and expansion[1], Friedman argues that, today like in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":143,"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":[1392,1660,35],"class_list":["post-28119","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-a-failure-of-nerve","tag-edwin-friedman","tag-leadership","cohort-lgp11"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28119","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\/143"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=28119"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28119\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28120,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28119\/revisions\/28120"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=28119"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=28119"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=28119"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}