{"id":36732,"date":"2024-03-15T07:23:48","date_gmt":"2024-03-15T14:23:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/?p=36732"},"modified":"2024-03-15T07:46:49","modified_gmt":"2024-03-15T14:46:49","slug":"holding-the-world-on-our-shoulders","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/holding-the-world-on-our-shoulders\/","title":{"rendered":"The World on Our Shoulders"},"content":{"rendered":"

For those who have visited Rockefeller Center in New York City, you might remember a large statue of the ancient Greek Titan Atlas <\/em><\/a>holding the heavens on his shoulders. Something fascinating about this statue is that depending on the angle from which Atlas is viewed, spectators might come to different conclusions concerning this Greek Titan. From the front, Atlas is holding the world with relative ease. He is invincible. However, stepping around to the statue’s backside and an observer might make a different conclusion. From the back, Atlas looks as if he is using all his strength to keep the world steady on his shoulders. He is strong, but it takes work. Ultimately, onlookers might not feel complete confidence in Atlas’s long-term ability to hold the world.<\/p>\n

The example of the Atlas statue standing outside 30 Rockefeller Plaza parallels Simon Walker’s ideas concerning the front and back stage in his Leading Out of Who You Are<\/em>. Walker describes those in leadership as often maintaining a front stage and a backstage. [1] The front stage is the place where leaders perform for their audiences. Whereas the backstage often becomes storage for insecurities and self-doubt, things left unrevealed to audiences. Walker writes, “The front stage is the place for conviction and confidence, the backstage the place for struggle and uncertainty.” [2] He continues, “What is important to understand is that all our strategies are to do with self-presentation, or ‘impression management.'” [3] Much like the Greek Titan Atlas, the leader appears confident and invincible when viewed from the front stage. However, if the audience were to take a few steps backstage, the different viewpoint would reveal a different story. The invincible leader could be struggling to keep the world steadied on their shoulders.<\/p>\n

In Greek mythology, Atlas was a half-man, half-god known as a Titan. Unfortunately, after the Titan’s defeat, Atlas was punished to carry the world on his shoulders. [4] We often use this familiar idiom to carry the weight of the world on one’s shoulders<\/em>. [5] This is an experience many leaders can intimately resonate with. Leadership can often feel like a punishment when put in a position to carry the world on their shoulders. Walker describes the hostile environment in which leaders often find themselves. Followers idealize and demand godlikeness from their leader to meet their emotional needs. Walker writes, “For the followers, it may lead to dependence; for the leader, it may lead to isolation, loneliness, and intolerable strain. He cannot share any of the issues he is struggling with inside because no one will allow him to.” [6] However, the leader also demands approval and appreciation from their followers to meet emotional needs. Walker refers to this as the leadership-followership collusion cycle. [7] The outcome of this collusion cycle is incredibly unhealthy. We were not meant to carry this weight.<\/p>\n

I often hold to the idea that it takes more courage to show the backstage mess, the insecurities, and self-doubt than to put on the front stage performance that everything is fine. However, it is one thing to show others our backstage, but it is another to do something about it. Walker confidently suggests we can do something about it in Leading Out of Who You Are<\/em>. We can move from the defended to the undefended leader. He carefully outlines how we can locate the root of the defended self. Walker writes, “To understand the route to undefendedness, we must first understand the architecture of our ego, for ultimately it is that we are defending.” [8] Walker further describes four leadership egos: 1) the shaping ego, 2) the defining ego, 3) the adapting ego, and 4) defending ego. Each leadership ego is shaped by our experience of trust (e.g., this begins in infancy). This post will not list the characteristics of each leadership ego but rather emphasize the broader importance of understanding our ego to allow transformation. Friedman states, “To gain more regulation over one’s reactive mechanisms requires commitment to the lifetime project of being willing to be continually transformed by one’s experience.” [9] Each leader can place themselves in one of Walker’s four leadership egos. Through better understanding of experiences with trust and defining the leadership ego, leaders can move towards undefendedness. However, there must be a willingness to change.<\/p>\n

Leaders cannot carry the weight of the world on their shoulders. The are not godlike Titans able to sustain the weight. Walker\u2019s Leading Out of Who You Are<\/em> exposes the leader\u2019s tendency to control what the audience sees and unhealthy relationship dynamics between the leader and followers. Walker further describes four leadership egos that foster defended rather than undefended leaders. It takes courage for a leader to reveal their back stage, but more courage to do something about it. Walker confidently suggests we can do something about it. We can be free. Ultimately, becoming an undefended leader requires divine support. I agree with Walker that our needs can only be fully met and that only God can fully define and heal our egos. No human or system can do this for us. Jesus says, \u201cCome to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matt. 22:28-30 [NIV]).\u201d Only God can mold us into undefended leaders. We can trust Him to make sense of our back stage.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

[1] Simon P. Walker, Leading Out of Who You Are: Discovering the Secret of Undefended Leadership <\/em>(The Undefended Leader Trilogy Book 1). Piquant Editions. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[2] Simon P. Walker, Leading Out of Who You Are<\/em> (p. 40). Piquant Editions. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[3] Simon P. Walker, Leading Out of Who You Are<\/em> (p. 39). Piquant Editions. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[4] \u201cAtlas.\u201d Accessed March 15, 2024. https:\/\/www.rockefellercenter.com\/art\/atlas\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[5] \u201cHave\/Carry\/Bear\/Feel the Weight of the World on Your Shoulders,\u201d March 13, 2024. https:\/\/dictionary.cambridge.org\/dictionary\/english\/have-carry-bear-feel-the-weight-of-the-world-on-your-shoulders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[6] Simon P. Walker, Leading Out of Who You Are<\/em> (p. 28). Piquant Editions. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n

[7] Ibid, 30.<\/p>\n

[8] Ibid, 71.<\/p>\n

[9] Edwin H. Friedman, A Failure of Nerve: Leadership in the Age of the Quick Fix<\/em> (10th Anniversary, Revised Edition) (p. 43). Church Publishing Incorporated. Kindle Edition.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For those who have visited Rockefeller Center in New York City, you might remember a large statue of the ancient Greek Titan Atlas holding the heavens on his shoulders. Something fascinating about this statue is that depending on the angle from which Atlas is viewed, spectators might come to different conclusions concerning this Greek Titan. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":208,"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":[2967,1718],"class_list":["post-36732","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dlgp03","tag-walker","cohort-dlgp03"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36732","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\/208"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36732"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36732\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":36738,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36732\/revisions\/36738"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36732"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36732"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.georgefox.edu\/dlgp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36732"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}