I recently came upon a fascinating piece on leadership. At least, I found it really interesting.
It comes from Faith and
Leadership work at Duke Divinity School in the United States and Gretchen Ziegenhals
reflects on what we can learn from Richard Adams’ 1972 story Watership Down. The piece itself – found at https://faithandleadership.com/rabbits-rapscallions-and-transformative-leadership
- is not recent, having been written over eleven years ago, but offers some
useful thinking on good and effective leadership.
Ziegenhals suggests
that, though it might seem an unlikely source for a leadership model, Hazel,
the rabbit at the centre of the story, provides exactly that. She says: “Hazel
does not set out to lead. He is an “outskirter”, one of the rank and file of
ordinary rabbits. He gets wounded and limps through much of the book. Yet, as
the novel unfolds, Hazel learns the qualities that make him into a
transformative leader: courage, humility, compassion, as well as the ability to
innovate, to integrate opposing ideas and to deal effectively with change.”
Hazel is not looking
for leadership, but he comes to exercise it effectively. Of particular note is his
recognition of the importance of listening, and his ability to innovate,
especially as he deals with new situations. He builds community.
As Ziegenhals puts it; “Like
Paul’s descriptions of the church as one body with many members, the rabbits
learn what it means to be a warren of individuals living and working together.”
These reflections have
certainly got me reaching for my copy of Watership Down.
No comments:
Post a Comment