Pastors, Presidents and Parents
Listening to a radio program yesterday, I was struck by the comment, "We don't want leaders like ourselves. We don't want Sarah Palin. We want somebody who's better than us."
This comment holds true, I believe, for all role models. Our children don't want us to function on their level, neither to act like a friend nor get angry when they do. They need us to set an example for them to follow, to determine limits within which they will feel secure and protected, and to hold steady when they fall apart.
Similarly, each one of us wants to look up to the people whom we admire. Of course we can forgive small interpersonal mistakes, such as forgetting an appointment to meet us or not returning a phone call. But ethical mistakes or misdemeanors undermine our trust in them and our belief in their ability to be our role models.
Therefore, when one chooses to be a leader one takes on the responsibility of being accountable not only to oneself - and G-d - but to the entire congregation of people who depend on that person.
Pastors, presidents and parents have two-way mirrors in their homes.
This comment holds true, I believe, for all role models. Our children don't want us to function on their level, neither to act like a friend nor get angry when they do. They need us to set an example for them to follow, to determine limits within which they will feel secure and protected, and to hold steady when they fall apart.
Similarly, each one of us wants to look up to the people whom we admire. Of course we can forgive small interpersonal mistakes, such as forgetting an appointment to meet us or not returning a phone call. But ethical mistakes or misdemeanors undermine our trust in them and our belief in their ability to be our role models.
Therefore, when one chooses to be a leader one takes on the responsibility of being accountable not only to oneself - and G-d - but to the entire congregation of people who depend on that person.
Pastors, presidents and parents have two-way mirrors in their homes.
posted by Dr. Spiegel at
9:59 AM
1 Comments:
An old article in TIME magazine by Charles Krauthammer states exactly what you expressed in this
ezine-- it is a very good article, in fact was the subject of a Yom Kippur Ne'ila drasha in a shul I was in once. See http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,975392-1,00.html.
By
Anonymous, at Monday, February 16, 2009
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