Change or die! – Tom Peters
Give me Liberty or give me Death! – Patrick Henry
You are either with us, or against us! – George Bush
While you don’t like the abruptness of these leaders, and while you don’t like their political incorrectness, do their statements illicit change in you? It elicits a change, even if that change is polarizing and sends you in the opposite direction.
Our problem with leading is that we are not absolutists! ONLY ABSOLUTISTS ILLICIT CHANGE!
What is an absolutists?
Is it someone who believes there is no middle-ground?
No, that is someone who is ignorant and inconsiderate.
Then what is an absolutist?
I believe absolutists are those who give themselves no middle ground. They believe that the middle ground exists; however, they know that true change for them lies in being forced to make a decision! (After all isn’t that where they get a chance to lead, in their decisions) Therefore, they use their language to force change’s hand in their life.
I’ve discovered that rarely in my life can I stay in the “middle of road”. Instead, I move from one ditch to the other and that keeps me balanced. When I start trying to stay in the middle of the road, I end up stopped there and not moving.
Maybe you are awesome and you don’t need absolutes, but for me to change I cannot allow myself the lackadaisical cushion of the middle ground.
Absolutism forces change! It may not be the direction of change that the author intended, but it polarizes the area into a strict dichotomy that forces us to choose sides.
Think back to when you used to play kickball as a kid, why did you pick captains? Because if you left it up to everyone to just pick then there would be five teams of best friends and still not enough people to play. Instead, we chose captains so that they could force us to take a side. We knew that other relationships and even possibly “better teams” existed in the group, but they still weren’t enough to play ball. Absolutism is the same way… it admits that there are middle ground players that would work well together, but still would not bring about any significant ball-playing/change!
I know countless people who refuse to be absolutists, and they continually are satisfied with the middle-ground that they are currently sitting on!
If you want to truly be a change addict, then you MUST become an absolutist or your WILL become obsolete!
Martin Luther King didn’t win the civil rights battle “conceding” to the middle ground. Churchill didn’t stop Hitler from taking England by giving him middle-ground. Jesus Christ didn’t change an entire world of people by creating a “non-threatening” middle ground!
GREAT CHANGE COMES FROM ABSOLUTE DECISIONS!
Think about today. Have you been an absolutist, or have you been obsolete? Ouch that one hurts me, I’ve been obsolete today.
What exactly are you going to do to change it??? TELL ME ABOUT IT!
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
When I read this insert, I'm reminded of the statement that I've heard many times- There are three kinds of people: people that MAKE things happen, people that WATCH things happen, & people that DON'T KNOW what's happening.
I ask: What happened to the Martin Luther Kings? Winston Churchills? Patrick Henrys? Rosa Parks?
What has happened to the leaders of my generation?
Maybe they've fallen victim to the middle ground?- consistly choosing the "grays" over the black & white? . . . Content with choosing a "way out" and conforming instead of paying a price for what is "real" and relevant? . . . Content with watching things happen? . . . Content with not knowing what happens?
Ouch! I'm as guilty as anyone else, but, hey . . . I figure it's time for a change. We have enough content obsolete people to watch and walk blindly . . . Time to MAKE something happen!
YES!!!! That is it EXACTLY!
The truth hurts. When will we as a generation trade in our i-pods and cell phones for something with substance. How much longer are we going to let a hedonistic society dictate our beliefs.
The hardest thing in life is to cross over that line of "the middle" and in to the unknown territory of "the lead". It's hard to put up egos and feelings and friends and push into what truly burns in you.
Thank you for not settling for less than the best. You blog is very inspiring and lets me know that we are not alone in our discontent.
Every civilization has a period where they are lulled to sleep by apathy and great success and wealth, but eventually they are awoken by an explosion from their own people. I believe we are the catalyst for this explosion. However, this won't be a blood bath like the French Revolution or the Communist Revolution of the 1900's, it will be an awaking of a generation who will climb out of mediocrity and popularity and enter into a world of purpose and fulfillment beyond ourselves.
Post a Comment