I've been thinking about leadership a lot lately. There are a lot of people in leadership positions who know very little about leadership. One prominent among them said his greatest qualification for the position was that he campaigned well for it. Yet, for all the rhetoric, we don't see a lot of good people rising up to be leaders, and perhaps there are some reasons behind that I will attempt to address in this article.
One of the things on my mind is a story I heard a while back that goes like this. A falcon sat upon some craggy rocks atop a lofty mountain peak. As he surveyed the landscape, he looked down and saw a flock headed his way. They drew closer, and he started to salivate, realizing that it was a flock of pigeons. Ok, pigeons were not his favorite, but he was hungry, so he started to take flight. Suddenly, he noticed among their number a mighty eagle, flying in formation with the pigeons, and changed his mind. The eagle at length came to rest near the falcon as the pigeons continued on their way. Confused, the falcon turned to the eagle and asked him what he'd been doing with the pigeons. The eagle explained that sometimes pigeons lead eagles.
There are a great deal of people among us who are not qualified to lead. It happens frequently that the entitled group among us, what might pass for aristocracy in America, believe themselves by virtue of their birth, their names, their fortunes, or their educational pedigrees more well endowed to lead. This is a principle contrary to good leadership, and most of the people of this attitude go down in history as among the worst of leaders. They forget that leaders have two great and valuable charges- to accomplish the mission and to take care of the people on whom he depends to accomplish the mission.
In historical literature, great difference is made between shepherds and sheepherders. The first is a caretaker and the second is a hireling. Shepherds persuade their flock to follow; sheepherders manipulate people, frequently with the use of a physical object or with the help of dogs. When threats come upon their flocks, the two react very differently. The hireling says to himself, "I'm not getting paid enough for this" and heads off to play golf, read a book, or find some other more lucrative employ. The shepherd takes care of his charge even at the expense of his own life. He knows that it's his charge to take care of his people even if circumstances eventually force him to resign.
What of that flock in the story? Most people, when it comes to leadership mentality, are pigeons by nature. We prefer to go with the flow and not make waves and do enough without standing out, because we know that although sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease, sometimes the squeaky wheel also gets replaced. The simple fact of the matter is that the few eagles among us are, either by virtue of the GOBNet or by virtue of their own deference frequently at least for a time at the mercy of pigeons to lead them along their way.
Sometimes when the pigeons lead, things are ok, but sometimes they lead us into great danger. Pigeons have a rather narrow field of view, to eat, multiply, and deficate. They are not known for being particular about what they eat, with which birds they mate or where they deficate, and sometimes, however well meaning though they may be, they make among men a malaise of circumstance.
The bard wrote, "We're oft to blame, 'tis too much proved, that with devotion's visage and pious action we do sugar o'er the devil himself" (Hamlet Act III Scene i). Shakespeare means in this that the reason pigeons lead and lead us into difficulties is sometimes the fault of the eagles. We are too self-effacing (in part because we're taught that confidence is arrogance and pride), too humble, too busy, and very, very frequently, too selfish and as such allow the devil his way. We're too concerned with ourselves than with other people. We jealously guard what we have against the pigeons' invasions upon our well-being and adopt an attitude of "every eagle for himself".
Eagles let pigeons lead so that pigeons don't become dependent on them. We know that the more other people rely on our advice, the less able and willing they will be to think for themselves, and while they may never be eagles per se, we hope they will become the best possible of pigeons.
Eagles let pigeons lead as long as the leadership of pigeons doesn't put them in danger or hold them back from their ability to soar to heights. Too frequently, we're ok with 'live and let live' that works in only one direction. The pigeons don't look at us that way. They want what we have, like the seagulls in Finding Nemo. They are used to getting what they want no matter what it is and never compromise. When compassion, compromise, and cooperation go only in one direction, it's not real, it's codependency.
Eagles let pigeons lead them sometimes because it's difficult to always be out front and you can benefit by flying in the back of a formation as you rest and recuperate. It can be taxing to always be on your best behavior, and pigeons are not known for their standards, so the bar is much lower for them in terms of behavior. It's much harder to be even an average eagle than the best of pigeons, and yet the standards are set very high for some while others are exempted from similar expectations. Some eagles would rather not be subjected to the scrutiny of pigeons intent on finding the mote in the eagle's eye without regard for the beam in their own.
Eagles sometimes let pigeons lead because it's much easier to do the work when many hands are involved and not just those of the eagle himself. If you have to do a lot of work, it's always better to enlist other people and help them catch vision of how it's a mutual improvement association to fly together. Ducks know this very well.
Eagles are afraid that other birds will not want to follow them because they are afraid or uncertain of the eagle's leadership. Eagles are, after all, birds of prey. When you're used to one thing and one thing only, it's hard to believe that something else is possible. Pigeons never soar, rarely fly, and spend most of their time scavenging and staying just far enough away from humans so as not to die suddenly. These people forget that people once forgot the world was flat.
Leadership attitudes towards the flock reflect ideas the leader holds about the nature of man. Thomas Jefferson wrote "We both consider the people as our children and love them with paternal affection, but you love them as infants whom you are afraid to trust without nurses and I as adults whom I freely leave to self government". For the shepherd or eagle, men are capable of almost anything, but for the pigeon or hireling, people are animals with basic needs and some of them are better than others. They forget that even if some pigeons are better, they are still pigeons.
Bad leaders dislike people and do not trust them. Pigeons of men blame people, fire people, and punish people to preserve themselves. Such hirelings despise people and see them as a means to an end, the cost to receive a paycheck. They want everyone to remember why they need government. They want you dependent on them. What this means is that eventually, they end up leading a bunch of pigeons, because eagles do not stay where they are treated incessantly like pigeons. They really resent when pigeons are consistently elevated above them or protected by management not because of their good deeds but in spite of their bad ones. I once left a job and told my manager that "you need me more than I need you" because I knew it would take at least two people to take my place. Two pigeons do not make one eagle. When the wolves come, no matter how great their numerical advantage the hirelings still flee.
When you find a great leader, get behind him. Follow him. Encourage him. Chances are he's not very far from surrendering the position to a pigeon. It takes a large degree of gumption and confidence to assume a true leadership position, even if you are a lesser eagle or a gull or a hummingbird, which for their lack of size make up for it with other skills and traits relative to pigeons of men. If you discover you are dating or married to an eagle, please stand with and by him or her. They will greatly value your encouragement to do what is right, even if that comes at their own personal, however temporary, expense. Show them you understand. Every John Adams deserves an Abigail. Sometimes the shepherd may, as did John Adams, have to lay down his life for the sheep.
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