# Hello from Canada



## Wgrondzil (Dec 30, 2018)

Am so happy to join this community and share ideas. currently working in a book about the soul of leadership, through the lens of the civil rights movement. Looking forward to sharing ideas, perspectives and gaining inspiration


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## epimetheus (Dec 30, 2018)

Huh, leaders have souls? You've already taught me something.


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## Dluuni (Dec 30, 2018)

Ooh, nifty. History/nonfiction. I used to do academic writing. Have you defined what you mean by 'soul' yet?


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## Wgrondzil (Dec 30, 2018)

epimetheus said:


> Huh, leaders have souls? You've already taught me something.


Well, I believe true leadership has a soul; leaders are another matter. �� I think what we mistake for leadership is the power behind the leadership. Take power out of the picture and we see who the true leaders are. ��


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## Wgrondzil (Dec 30, 2018)

Dluuni said:


> Ooh, nifty. History/nonfiction. I used to do academic writing. Have you defined what you mean by 'soul' yet?


 How we define leadership can bring us closer to its soul—at least that’s what I believe. Leadership as a moral motivation to act to right a wrong, that leads at the fore of followership, and at great risk to oneself, gets closer to the essence, the soul of true leadership. It also means that leadership is rarer than we might think. Aristotle spoke of the soul  as the seat of reason. Because it transcends death, time and circumstance, it brings a steadying wisdom to leadership, that is too often missing these days.


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## Gumby (Dec 31, 2018)

Wgrondzil said:


> Am so happy to join this community and share ideas. currently working in a book about the soul of leadership, through the lens of the civil rights movement. Looking forward to sharing ideas, perspectives and gaining inspiration



That sounds like a book I would like to read! Welcome to WF, Wgrondzil!


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## Winston (Dec 31, 2018)

I look forward to your perspective and insight.  I have worked for, and with many competent managers.  But far too few effective leaders.
To understand the difference is half the battle.


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## Wgrondzil (Jan 1, 2019)

Thank you so much for the encouragement! eaceful:


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## Wgrondzil (Jan 1, 2019)

Yes absolutely! I think also it’s good to distinguish between leaders, and those who are “in charge”. There’s a world of difference. eaceful:


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## Cunningstuff (Jan 1, 2019)

Also new! Working on a science fiction novella/novel/novels. I hope to figure that out here. MLK was a great leader, who knew where his power was from.


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## JustRob (Jan 1, 2019)

Hi and welcome Wgrondzil. That's another user name that I won't be able to spell correctly then.



Wgrondzil said:


> Aristotle spoke of the soul  as the seat of reason. Because it transcends death, time and circumstance, it brings a steadying wisdom to leadership, that is too often missing these days.



In my experience the fact that the soul transcends circumstance  and particularly time means that often at the conscious level we don't understand why it is leading in a particular direction. We can only consciously apply reason to the circumstances as we perceive them, not as they may be at another time of which we are unaware. Sometimes the voice of reason and the soul pull in different directions and then we have to decide whether to bend to immediate reason or have faith in the soul. Hence although the soul's influence may be steadying in some wider context it may just appear disruptive in ours. I would say that sometimes in those circumstances the right decision may be to ignore reason and just trust to faith. Don't assume that by using words like "soul" and "faith" I am referring to religious beliefs though. They are simply convenient words to use for the concepts under discussion. 

 We are happy to share our views on such matters here, but accept that everyone is entitled to see things differently. Offhand I don't know about Aristotle's views. It's a bit too late for him to join us now though.


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## clark (Jan 1, 2019)

Wgrondzil -- special welcome, one Canadian to another. There ain't enough of us here, futilely trying to teach humility to the Brits, global empathy to the Americans, and manners to the Ozzies.  Other national reps are here of course--it's rumoured that we even have a porcine from Portugal in our ranks. Regardless of which flag flaps overhead, you will be hard-pressed to find a more enthusiastic, caring, and knowledgeable (even the Americans) group of writers than here at WF. People will expend enormous amounts of time and talent on your work, offering their perspectives and helping you improve. All they ask is that you reciprocate.

Your megaproject, seems to me, penetrates philosophy, psychology, history, social organization, corporate growth, entrepreneurship, and gawd knows what else! Fascinating.

I have no idea--I'm being totally serious--what you mean by the word/concept SOUL.  I don't even understand your use of the word in your explanatory post. The word has been so grossly overused in bad poems by poets too lazy to search for images of real feelings and emotions, that poets rarely use it at all. I suspect it has become a cliché in fiction and creative non-fiction as well.  And I note that the Holy Ghost, that puzzling 'entity' vaguely close to 'Soul', is now called the 'Holy Spirit', betraying a certain sidebar linguistic disquietude about such matters among Christian trend-setters. I think a couple of other posters asked you to describe how you meant the word.  Coming up with alternatives is a daunting task,

Anyhoo, my friend, we're happy to have you here. One question, though--if you had to choose a category that came _closest_ to your interests, which would it be?

poetry
short story
novel
creative non-fiction
technical documentation
academic writing

I'm not trying to pigeon-hole your interests; rather, I'm trying to direct you as a writer towards the Mentor best suited for your needs. I'm a poet; other Mentors will be more focused on the specific challenges you will face as you work on that megaproject. For example, as a poet I have a deeply negative reaction to the word 'soul', which has been done-to-death in poetry.

Everyone here wants you to garner maximum benefit from your participation in your new writing community.  Questions? Just to get you started, ask me.  If I don't have the answer, I'll package up a bunch of convincing lies and dazzle you with my footwork . ?Enjoy.


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## Wgrondzil (Jan 2, 2019)

*The soul of Leadership*

Thank you for the insightful critique; it is very much appreciated eaceful:





Any man worth his salt will stick up for what he believes right,but it takes a slightly better man to acknowledge instantly and without reservation that he is in error.
_-Andrew Jackson.

_Human greatness does not lie in wealth or power,but in character and goodness.People are just people, and all people have faults and shortcomings,but all of us are born with a basic goodness.
_-Anne Frank


_​What is the “soul” of leadership? 

Paulo Coelho wrote, “Culture makes people understand each other better. And if they understand each other better _in their soul,_ it is easier to overcome the economic and political barriers. _But first they have to understand that their neighbour is, in the end, just like them, with the same problems, the same questions_ [emphasis added]”.   What unites us in our humanity is the capacity to suffer deep, visceral pain in the face of loss, economic hardship, incarceration, or the deprivation of one’s basic human or Constitutional rights. But when these burdens are shared, there comes an equally inimitable understanding by some leaders, a deep intuitive knowledge that a common journey through the dark night, however arduous, is worth the struggle. And perhaps it is here, at the fore of adversity, that the soul is revealed. 

In the context of leadership, then, there must be something to the dictionary definition of and arguments for the existence of soul—that immortal part of us, separate from the body at its passing.  Aristotle argued for the soul’s ability to reason; perhaps because it supersedes death, the soul can supplant time and circumstance, providing clear thought and moral judgment in times of privation and conflict.  And it is this moral and ethical wisdom that discerns when it’s time lead, to act, to right wrongs that should not, must not continue, regardless of what must be endured to redress them.   “Great and frequent reverses can crush and mar our bliss both by the pain they cause and by the hindrance they offer to many activities”, wrote Aristotle, “yet nevertheless even in adversity nobility shines through, when a man endures repeated and severe misfortune with patience, not owing to insensibility, but from generosity and greatness of soul.”

History shows us there are those who, with just such greatness and generosity, _chose_ to lead without the trappings of power, carving the way at the fore of those who could not change their circumstances alone.  Nobility did indeed shine through, as these leaders did the unthinkable in the face of the impossible—and have come to be remembered as conduits for the release and expression of the very essence and soul of leadership. Knowing full well what was at stake—reputation, the risk to career and livelihood, the safety of one’s family, and the possibility of paying the ultimate price for one’s efforts—these leaders nevertheless chose to act. Echoing Socrates, they knew that “To move the world we must move ourselves.”

To feel such a profound motivation to set right grievous wrongs in the face of monumental risks speaks to something far deeper and perhaps more mysterious than mainstream leadership literature can adequately define.   In their stories we find certain insistent themes intrinsically primordial and perhaps even spiritual, clues to the idea that the essence of true leadership may be much rarer than we believe. Championing a cause for the greater good without the ‘normal’ trappings of leadership—power imbalances, authority, status, entitlement, wealth—should stir deep and thoughtful questions about why some individuals choose to lead. As Helen Keller reflected, “Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.”

In the he world, our society and nation states today, there are stark contradictions between most ideas about leadership, and the actions of many leaders _in situ_ that monopolize headlines.  Individuals with power can influence large groups toward ill intent, propagating hatred, injustice and the curtailment of human rights. In truth, it is usually the power behind the person—and the threat of the use of that power—that sets the backdrop for leader influence, despite the insistence of feel-good leadership literature to the contrary. And there are also many who shock, disappoint and generally wreak havoc at more mundane levels in organizations, communities and institutions, abusing the privilege of their office, while an uninformed or marginalized governance process marches with them in complete trust, blissfully unaware or worse, turning a blind eye to it all in the name of profits and surpluses. 

It can be disheartening to think that an industry which measures its successes in billions of dollars—leadership books, keynotes, and workshops—for the most part stubbornly avoids the less palatable subject of leader failures of conscience and ethics.  Why these conventions of perfection and larger-than-life notions of leadership have developed over time seems to be rooted in ideas more akin to _what we wish or will our leaders to be, than what in fact they are_. Explaining the rise of overtly racist and prejudiced agendas and the seeming tolerance of corruption today may in part be a result of these commonly held assumptions about leadership, because of leader agency and follower deference to the former’s entitlement to unbridled power. What follows is an unconscious subscription to the unquestionable “rightness” of the leader’s deeds and words, regardless of any dark moral motivations that may lurk beneath. Vestiges of the Great Man Theory refuse to politely excuse themselves from the existing literature, despite the fact that leaders, like everyone, are not immune to frailty, errors in judgement and all the foibles that come with membership cards to the human race. 

Power exercised devoid of virtue leaves us longing for nobler leaders, in the hope that the future—and the leaders that emerge—will show us it is more than possible to create a more compassionate and benevolent world. What should give us hope is that the soul of leadership has never changed—it is _we_ who have written, sermonized and workshopped ourselves away from its essence.  We need to see a soul in leadership.

When the hype and noise of popular leadership theory’s bright and fragile pronouncements die down, I believe there exists a quiet entreaty to the reclamation—not the remaking—of leadership. Today’s narratives of hypocrisy, dishonesty, entitlement and the abuse of power and office urge us to take a different stand on the topic if we hope to show the world, the country, our children—those destined to become future leaders—that what is going on is not what we believe or care for leadership to be.  Theodore Roosevelt said, “In any moment of decision, the best thing you can do is the right thing…and the worst thing you can do is nothing”.  As for what’s right, he went on to observe “Knowing what's right doesn't mean much unless you do what's right.”

I believe the soul of leadership is an indelible part of the lives and chronicles of unlikely leaders whose right to lead was vested not in hierarchical power, but rather in their conviction to find a way through and out of the turbulent waters of hatred, divisiveness and racism toward a kinder, and more virtuous shore.  “As long as God gives me strength”, said Medgar Evers, “to work and try to make things real for my children, I'm going to work for it - even if it means making the ultimate sacrifice”.  Many civil rights leaders like Evers, Martin Luther King Jr. and others less well known all lived the anguish of the dark night, those times when despair overwhelmed the present and stretched into the future, beyond an indifferent horizon. It was in these moments of waning faith that they dug in, and drew on a wellspring of hope, to lift the failing spirits and weary eyes of those they led, with their own sights unwaveringly fixed on the promise of freedom, an inclusive Constitution and a just society for all.

This book an account of some of those who, knowing what was right, chose to go beyond the knowing to action, seeking to remedy deep, grievous wrongs, those who answered the soul’s call to lead in the name of a kinder, nobler world.   [FONT=&Verdana]
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## JJBuchholz (Jan 2, 2019)

Welcome! Whereabouts in Canada are you from? Barrie, Ontario here. 

-JJB


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## TuesdayEve (Jan 2, 2019)

Hello W,
Well, it seems you’ve got fans for a discussion, great!
Please read the rules as there is a 10 post requirement 
before posting your own works which you are well on 
your way, browse and enjoy. Welcome.v


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## Wgrondzil (Jan 3, 2019)

I am from Victoria BC. eaceful:


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## Periander (Jan 4, 2019)

My brother lives in Seattle.  Such beautiful places up there!


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## Arseny (Jan 5, 2019)

Hi, I'm new here too. 
How did you celebrate new year in Canada?
I have here not too cold but lots of snow.
Your idea is quite interesting, I wish you good luck.


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## Wgrondzil (Jan 5, 2019)

Arseny said:


> Hi, I'm new here too.
> How did you celebrate new year in Canada?
> I have here not too cold but lots of snow.
> Your idea is quite interesting, I wish you good luck.



thank you so much, and all the best to you for the New Year!


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## Denz01 (Jan 6, 2019)

Hi and welcome Wgrondzil.


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## Keith Collins (Jan 7, 2019)

True! Managers manage things; leaders lead people.


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## Miss-Riah (Jan 17, 2019)

Ooh I look forward to reading it. You'll have to let me know when you share it.


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## Ty G (Jan 17, 2019)

This sounds incredibly interesting! I'm excited to hear more about it. Welcome to the forum!


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