The end of leadership

[douglas germann]

Yoav--

This is significant. It needs to be passed around...the world. May we
have your permission to pass it on, each to his or her own list of
friends?

			:- Doug. Germann

On Sun, 2006-10-15 at 18:55 +0200, Yoav Peck wrote:
>  Today the Israeli Knesset (parliament) convened for its winter session.
> Yesterday, the police recommended indicting our president for a collection
> of offenses, the most serious of which is the rape of two women in his
> employ. 
> Many legislators announced their intention to protest the president's
> appearance at today's session and he wisely bowed to the pressure and did
> not attend.  
> Why am I sharing this with you on the OS list? 
> As I facilitated my first OS last month, I noticed a recurrent theme among
> the different groups - the longing for "someone who will be crazy about our
> issue" to appear and assume leadership in the efforts to fulfill the vision
> that crystallized in response to the day's question: the formation of a
> national council for parents and parenting professionals. 
> What did not come home to the group of 60 people, mostly professionals who
> run parent-training programs, is that the "crazy-about-the-issue someone" is
> none other than they themselves. I low-profiled as much as I could,
> empowered, returned questioners to themselves. I left the room some. But the
> group seemed to be waiting and praying for the someone who will save us,
> during most of the course of the day. It appears that only after meeting
> with the steering committee and then holding round two of the OS will people
> be likely to get that the person sitting in their seat is "the one." 
> 
> At any rate, the profundity of OS' message came home to me during that first
> day. The fantasy that one driven, inspired leader will rescue us all from
> our helplessness is a chorus that can frequently be heard when people
> discuss the overall situation here in Israel. 
> In my view, the 1995 assassination of Yitzhak Rabin marked the end of this
> fantasy here. Indeed, Rabin had qualities and qualifications that enabled so
> many of us to follow him. But, as in OS, the leader's "strength" was our
> downfall, because in the shine of his leadership our own light dimmed. The
> lion's share of peacemaking work remained even as he lived, but we deluded
> ourselves that he would carry us through to the promised land. Since his
> death, no comparable leader has emerged, and many here bemoan this reality.
> However, now that I have caught the OS "bug" I am wondering if Rabin's
> death, tragic as it was, may not be our cue to understanding that it is we
> who must create whatever is to be created here. It has been nearly eleven
> years, but with people's growing distaste for our "leaders," it appears that
> we Israelis may finally be getting the hint. 
> Even Moses stayed behind, to die on Mt. Nevo while the people crossed over
> into Israel. It remains now for us to shoulder the burden of making the new
> tomorrow. 
> I am grateful to discover OS as a way of holding this leaderless future. I
> relish the mails and look forward to the ongoing learning that is here. 
> 								Yoav Peck,
> Jerusalem 
> 
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