Movements
occur when an unsettled group of people bonds together around a common desire
or vision to see a preferred future become reality.
Martin
Luther King in his most famous speech uttered these familiar words - "I
have a dream." In the next few minutes he outlined his vision for a united
interracial United States of America. Many listeners that day decided to link
arms with King and dare to create a movement towards this preferred future he
described. The journey towards this preferred future wasn't easy. There was a
great cost to many individual lives that had both positive and negative long-term
effects on humankind. And here today, as I type about something that happened
decades before my existence on this planet, I still benefit from a dream that
became a reality.
Many of
us long to leave a lasting impression on the world in which we live. Some of us
desire to make the world a better place, while others of us may simply hope
that we receive all that we had hoped for out of life. Regardless of what our
personal motivation might be, the outcome of these collective desires is to
create some sort of movement towards or away from something.
Creating
a movement is a lot like causing an infection. Infections occur most typically
as a result of some sort of wound that has been inflicted or caused. A system
only learns to grow and to change when it has do deal with adversity. Here are
four things I'm learning about creating sustainable movements:
1. Embrace and name the wound. The courage to create and
pursue change or movement comes from unsettledness with the status quo. In this
unsettling process, it is essential that we take the time to name or identify
the root of the disconnectedness. We can't diagnose what the issue is unless we
are aware of the symptoms. Sometimes wounds are the source of the
unsettledness, but sometimes they are only the symptom of the root cause.
Diagnosing the wound can only occur through the filter of communal discernment.
What this means is that we need to speak about our wounds with a group of
trusted sojourners so that we can evaluate what it is and what it might mean.
2. Pain isn't meant to paralyze. We live in a modern society
that expresses distaste for pain. Our culture is built through the use of
numbing agents that attempt to help us cope with, dodge and reject the forming
process that pain invites us into. While not all pain is healthy (self-inflicted
pain is usually a sign of ill health unless referring to muscle strengthening
exercises), all pain is not meant to paralyze. You may have heard the old adage
"no pain, no gain." Creating a movement starts with understanding the
invitation that coincides with our pain, rather than running away from it or
attempting to numb our pain away.
3. Courage and strength are the scars of great leadership. It takes great wisdom to
learn from and grow as a result of our wounds. Pain does leave a legacy. Wise
leaders allow pain to create strength and courage instead of fear and
paralysis. Great leaders find a way to face their pain, work through their pain
and allow their wound to be a catalyst for creating a movement that leads
towards the desired preferred future.
4. It takes time. You've heard the phrase "time heals all
wounds." This same practice can be applied to creating movements. It takes
time to create a sustainable movement. While we might like to see these things
occur overnight, the reality of creating movements is that it often doesn't
happen like this. Movements take time to create. Great leaders are willing to
live in the tension between a preferred future and current reality for as long
as it takes to create the desired movement.
What sort
of movements are you hoping to generate?
