Audacity! Moral Imagination. Immersion. Leadership. Us.
These are the words in an inspiring TED talk.
Jacqueline Novogratz: Inspiring a life of immersion | Video on TED.com
What a beautiful talk. I love TED for bringing inspiring talks like this.
Jacqueline talked about 'Moral Imagination.' What an amazing concept. To see and feel how another would feel by our actions. Even our non actions are actions. To step outside our mind on ourselves and feel for others besides ourselves. The native American Indian leaders said that before they made any decision they would imaging looking into the faces of their children and their children's children right up to seven generations. That is exactly what we need in today's leadership - a seven generation foresight.
Moral Imagination - to see past ourselves and our plans and our aspirations and not just live for our own feelings and our own ideals - but for others around us and before us - way into the future. To choose to think about others and future generations may be the most difficult challenge humans face. We are so short sighted! Making decisions only after we visualise looking into the faces of future generations sounds like a great leadership strategy for sustaining resources and life.
Jacqueline told the story of a leader - a little 6-year old girl in New Orleans named Ruby Bridges - the first African American child to be allowed to integrate into a regular school. She was asked what she was saying as she walked into the school grounds. She said she was not talking but praying "Father forgive them because they know not what they do" as she walked bravely past the 'adult' haters and protesters.
I love it that a six year old child is a moral leader not just then in her time but now decades later Ruby Bridges is a moral leader.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ruby_Bridges
And Jaqueline's use of the word 'Immersion' - not just a handout, a charity donation - but being immersed in another's world.
Jacqueline's talk concluded like this.
'We need leaders. We ourselves need to lead from a place that has the audacity to believe we can ourselves extend the fundamental assumption that all men were created equal to every man woman and child on this planet.
And to have the humility to recognise we can't do it alone.
Robert Kennedy said "Few of us have the greatness to bend history itself but each of us can work to change a small portion of events and, and it is in the total of all those acts that the history of the generation will be written".
Jacqueline ended "Our lives are so short and our time on this planet so precious. All we have is each other. So may each of you live lives of immersion. These will not be easy lives but in the end it will be all that sustains us".
Great words. Audacity! Moral Imagination. Immersion. Leaders - We as leaders.
Great TED Talk.
I believe everyone should have access to education and each of us are leaders in making this happen.
Zelda Sheldon
www.ukulelebabymusic.com
Creating Fun interactive music for smart healthy happy children 0-5yrs.
Welcome to the blog of Zelda Sheldon. This is where I make little comments here and there as I try to make sense of the world. I get it wrong a lot and I'm guilty of changing my views about many things - more and more the older I get. But I still haven't changed my mind about liking raw oysters.
Subscribe To Zelda Sheldon's Blog
Posts
Comments
I like the way she presents a balanced view, not just the rosy do-gooding stories, and not only the horror stories, but both culminating in a unique view of what it means to lead. I ponder how precious and unique is my position as a mother to lead my son into every manner of healthy (or unhealthy) thinking and ways of being. What can I teach Aden about fairness, contentment, the Rat Race, money, and all the things that seem to get under my skin and turn my mood afoul?
ReplyDeleteThe best leadership yes is outward focused, expansive, unlimited and full of possibility. Daring, initiative, not what you think about as much as what you DO. Things to ponder, and be said and done, indeed.
I appreciate that she, Jacqueline, addresses that dark side, in her observation that "monsters" exist in all of us;
broken parts of ourselves, sadnesses, secret shame, those fragments that can be preyed upon and where we see others as lesser than ourselves...I would add where we see ourselves as lesser than others, where those broken parts turn in on themselves and break ourselves down even further.
I like the words "giving people more dignity in solving their problems". There has to be another way to get this dignity other than driving up to your problems in a limousine (money then is not one of your problems)
...dignity is an internal state and a place of confidence, humililty and fearlessness to embrace the action that needs to happen. Hearing about differing Islamic religious sects sharing one mosque together in the Housing Estate - truly amazing. I hope THEY never have to pay a violent price for being tolerant (when so many Fundamentalist Islamic groups are violently intolerant).
Thank you for pointing me back to TED again, I had forgotten to listen and it's great to hear something new. It's great to get out of my own "labourhood" and consider goals that are more other-oriented again.