The Danger of Personality Leadership

I recently finished reading Bonhoeffer, Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy by Eric Metaxas.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German pastor who was ultimately executed within weeks of Germany's surrender I World War II for his role in the conspiracy to assassinate Hitler and attempt to bring about a negotiated settlement with Britain.  Dietrich functioned as an advisor during the plot, and also passed information along to Britain through his international contacts in an attempt to inform the world of the atrocities occurring in Germany.  At one point, he assisted in helping several Jewish individuals to escape from Germany as well.  

This was the second time I have read this 500+ page biography, and there are many components of it that are personally challenging for me.  Due to its size and complexity, it is difficult to do a short evaluation of all its themes.  Both times through the book, though, I have been struck by Hitler's ability to force his will on the country so quickly; it has caused me to think about the events that occurred in Germany leading up to and through World War II.   

Hitler became the elected chancellor of Germany on January 30, 1933, though his Nazi party was still a distinct minority in political representation.  Two days later, Dietrich Bonhoeffer gave a radio speech in which he discussed the problems of leadership by a Fuhrer, explaining that this type of leader will become an idol.  Prior to reading this book, I did not realize that Der Fuhrer meant "the leader", nor, more importantly, did I know that there was a popular concept called the Fuhrer Principle.  This principal had to do with a flawed concept of leadership.  The flaw had to do with its source of authority.  The Fuhrer principle found its authority in the leader himself, a self-derived, cult of personality that was autocratic, submitted to nothing, and acknowledged no weakness within itself.  Interestingly, Bonhoeffer contrasted this with a true leader, a leader that recognized that there is an ultimate authority for power outside of himself, a leader that serves others and leads others to maturity.  The entire speech, though not specifically aimed at Hitler, was prophetic in warning of the dangers that were soon to follow.

In response to the burning down of a government building, known as the Reichstag fire, in 1933, The Reichstag Fire Edict was signed, officially suspending those sections of the German constitution that guaranteed individual liberties and civil rights.  The legislative body (the Reichstag) subsequently passed the Enabling Act on March 23, 1933, and Act that formally took away their powers, abolished their existence, and transferred their power to the Chancellor (Hitler).

Soon after this, on April 7, 1933, what was known as the Aryan Paragraph took effect, under the politically correct title of "Restoration of the Civil Service."  Among other things, this act required that government employees be of "Aryan" stock, and that anyone of Jewish descent would lose their job.  Churches, who operated under a national church-state structure, were required to exclude people of Jewish descent from ministry as well.  Bonhoeffer was among the few who stood up to confront this path as a pastor and theologian.  For those familiar with Dr. Martin Luther King's Letter from Birmingham Jail, they would find many parallels to Dr. King's distinction between the foundation of just and un-just laws, and the role of people of conscience to oppose laws that are un-just.  Dietrich Bonhoeffer was involved in communications with FDR's administration during these months, warning them of the ominous changes occurring in Germany.  Based on mandates of the Reichstag Fire Edict, Bonhoeffer was guilty already through this action of treason, yet he bravely moved forward with this and more over the ensuing years.

The Aryan Paragraph approved on April 7 1933, along with a government-organized boycott of Jewish businesses, were followed by increasing persecutions of Jews (along with the mentally and physically disabled, and others as well).  People of Jewish descent began losing their jobs with private employers under government coercion.  Government action on April 22, 1933 let to Jews being prohibited from serving as patent lawyers, or working as doctors in institutions with state-run insurance.  Jews began losing positions as universities in May, Jewish dentists lost the ability to work in institutions with state-run insurance, and spouses of non-Aryans began to be targeted by these policies within months.  September 29, 1933 saw Jews banned from all cultural and entertainment activities.  October saw all newspapers placed under Nazi control, and all Jews required to lose their positions in this field as well.  

Another pernicious change occurred at the same time.  In May 1933, Gleichschaltung began to be promoted; this concept was a requirement that everything in German society had to be in line with the Nazi worldview - no dissenting opinions.  This included books (anything that promoted other ideas was eventually eliminated/burned) and ideas (anyone with ideas that did not match the "appropriate"  worldview were dismissed from positions in government, hospitals, universities, and a multitude of other places as time went on.  People were spied on to ensure that their attitudes matched the party's ideology).  Germany was well on its way to the death camps of the next few years.

This book has continued to challenge me to question how similar issues could play out in our country.  How susceptible are we to following a leader that refuses to bow to any authority other than their own personality? How willing are we to exclude people based solely on their race, religion, lifestyle, or beliefs?  How willing are we to exclude the teaching of ideas in schools because they don't match the worldview that is considered politically correct?  All of these are things that are present in our culture, and probably have been present in almost all communities around the world and throughout time to some extent.  How do we keep them, though, in check?  Those are all questions that trouble me, and determining what my response should be when I see them arise is difficult as well.

Metaxas' book on Bonhoeffer had a couple of pointed ideas to keep in mind in this evaluation.  The first has to do with the theologian, Martin Niemoller, who initially took steps to pacify or work with Hitler.  Why did he do this?  Metaxas didn't go into great detail on Niemoller's decision, yet there were some things that stood out in the narrative.  For one thing, Hitler was highly popular with the public at large, and played to their passions and personal desires.  I think there was also some level of trying to work within the power system that was present at the time.  Years later, though, after ultimately finding himself in a concentration camp, Martin Niemoller penned the following words:

                "First they came for the Socialist, and I did not speak out--

                because I was not a Socialist.

                Then they came for the Trade Unionist, but I did not speak out--

                because I was not a Trade Unionist.

                Then they came for the Jews, and I did not speak out--

                because I was not a Jew.

                And then they came for me--

                and there was no one left to speak for me."

 The second idea that Metaxas touched on was the thought process that Dietrich Bonhoeffer went through as he tried to evaluate how to respond to the cult/leadership of Hitler.  One quote that is emblematic of his thoughts in this matter is as follows:  "If you board the wrong train, it is no use running along the corridor in the other direction."  The point that Bonhoeffer was making is that being part of something that is fundamentally wrong, where there is no avenue to bring about change on moral grounds, is fruitless.  The point made by Niemoller is that a decision to wait and go along with the flow when immoral actions are taken against others is that those same immoral actions may be taken against you as well.

How do you determine what is fundamentally wrong?  I would encourage you to read the book and develop your own understanding of that.  There is much time and attention given to the dangers of a leader acting under the strength of their own personality and the dangers inherent in demonizing or belittling a group.  At the same time, I encourage you to read Dr. King's Letter from Birmingham Jail.  The discussion in Dr. King's work is an excellent development of how to determine the difference between just and unjust laws.

I hope you can find the opportunity to ponder the thoughts raised by these individuals, and determine how best to implement them in your life, and within our community. 

  

Tragedy Strikes Indiscriminately

Tragedy strikes indiscriminately, and each one impacts people differently.  Our community has suffered another tragedy this week, with our church again impacted as well.  I have seen, and felt, a variety of emotions throughout.  Our family knows the Ingrham family in several ways through church and the community, and we as a family dealt with those personal emotions this weekend.  I know several of the pastors who have reached out to and members of the Ingrham family and seen the stress they have been through.  I also know several of the Sheriff’s deputies and emergency personnel who were involved, talked with some of their family about the stress they have felt, and have heard of some efforts undertaken by our deputies who personally went above and beyond in the efforts they took, both on and off duty.  I am proud of them.

There are a lot of emotions that have gone through me over the last few days, due to some of our own family issues as well as the events from last Friday.  Pastor Carr talked about it on Sunday when he addressed our church family after suffering from yet another significant tragedy; I have mentioned before that Kedarie Johnson had attended Harmony.  Pastor Carr talked about a few things that are part of times like these.  I don’t have my notes from what he said, but I do remember some of those thoughts.  They included the need to grieve, and the recognition that there will be questioning and anger.  He talked also about the need to come together in love and support.  He noted that we do not live in a perfect world; there is evil that must be confronted.  He also noted that there is a source of comfort out there for those who are willing to seek it.  My prayers are with all who have been impacted over the past few days.  My hope is, much as after Kedarie’s death, we can come together as a community and support each other in the days and weeks ahead.

I did want to say again how thankful I am for the people who have chosen to place themselves in the middle of these difficult events, the pastors, counselors, and emergency service personnel who have come alongside hurting people and been directly impacted.  These are people who, time and again, place themselves in the middle of high emotional stress to meet the needs of others.  This emotional stress can wear people down, though.  The May 2016 issue of Public Management magazine had an article entitled “Trauma Takes Its Toll” as its centerpiece.  The article focused on the significant emotional impact our emergency services personnel, including police, fire, EMS and dispatchers, face.  They discussed a survey undertaken by Fitch & Associates of fire and EMS personnel.  Among the results were that 37% of respondents had contemplated suicide, and that 6.6% had attempted it (both of which are about 10 times the national average).  The article also noted that at least 759 firefighters have committed suicide since 2012, and that estimates range from 125 to 300 police officers committing suicide every year.

These are sobering statistics, and I have personally seen people in these industries suffer from depression.  We offer support for our employees, and we have a very active chaplaincy program available through our police department.  Yet we need to do more.  The article mentions several action items to consider as an employer, and we need to seriously consider them.  We as a community need to support them as well.  Tragedy strikes indiscriminately every day on some level.  People need to continue to see a friendly smile and find a willing ear.  My prayer is we will find ways to be that for each other.

The Need for Healing

This last week, our community suffered a significant tragedy with the death of Kedarie Pierre Johnson.  I did not know Kedarie, though he would have sat two rows behind me at church off and on over the past couple of years.  He attended Harmony Bible Church at its Burlington location, Aldo Leopold Middle School, and was also involved at Kayla’s Cupboard and at the Maple Leaf Center, both of which are associated with Harmony as well.  Sunday service was fairly emotional, remembering several difficult circumstances that are being felt by members of our church community, but specifically for the circumstances associated with Kedarie’s passing. I have had the opportunity to be around our police department as they have been involved in the investigation of this incident, and have seen the pain and stress that they have had to endure.  Sunday morning reminded me very much of how difficult this has been for all, and I very much appreciated the recognition of this and the prayers offered for all who have been impacted.

The message that Pastor Jeremy Hess shared involved several elements that are relevant to the pain that many are feeling.  Specifically, he spoke of the need for hearts to be encouraged and for hearts to be knit together in love.  This spoke to me; I know my heart needs to be encouraged.  I know that as I think of the pain that has occurred to so many, that I need to consciously recognize my need to stay focused on what truly matters.  I need to continue to move forward with a heart that seeks to build our City of Burlington together.  That is not always easy in times of pain.  My hope is that our community will be able to move forward seeking bonds that tie us closer together.  Burlington has proven to be a great place to be.  My hope is that we all are able to move forward through struggles such as this, to find a source of hope for the future, and overcome these afflictions. 

I have seen many hurt over the past week.  I have also seen many remembering the positive things about Kedarie, and coming together as one to support each other.  I pray that we can continue to do that over the days and weeks ahead as a community.

The Power of Free Housing and Cheap Gas

I recently read a blog posted at the Institute for Faith, Work, & Economics by Dr. Anne Bradley.  It was entitled “The Lesson from Venezuela:  Making Things ‘Free’ Is No substitute for Unleashing Human Creativity with Powerful Market Signals.”  To be honest, I don’t think I have spent much time thinking about Venezuela; I understand it as the oil rich county run by Hugo Chavez, a socialist who described himself as a Marxist.  Chavez was the President of Venezuela from 1999-2013, when he died.  Using record oil revenues, he was able to enact a series of social programs that made significant reductions to poverty while improving literacy rates, income equality, and the general quality of life between 2003 and 2007. 

The focus of the blog I read looked, though, at the long-term impact of the Chavez regime as well as the continuing policies of Venezuela’s current President, Nicolas Maduro.  Venezuela, based on having one of the largest oil reserves in the world, was able to provide gasoline for two-cents and free gasoline.  They did this successfully, too, until the state-owned oil company changed priorities.  Positions were filled through patronage, and investments necessary for long-term productivity were ignored.  Oil production decreased, consequently, by 25% during the Chavez’s regime.  This occurred at the same time that spending on social programs continued to rise. 

I mentioned in the first paragraph that there were marked improvements in the quality of life during the period of 2003-2007.  By 2005, the country reached a point where they couldn’t keep up with the pace of increased spending solely by selling oil (which was decreasing even while the price continued to rise), but was forced to begin printing additional money.  They were able to keep up with their costs for several years this way, but 2014 marked a point where things spun out of control.  Even with mandated price controls and a series of government subsidies, data from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) shows that Venezuela’s economy shrank by 10% in 2014 and 8% in 2015, while inflation hit 68.5% and 141.5% for the same years and is project as high as 720% in 2016. 

The blog mentioned that shortages are occurring in many areas, three of which would be particularly troublesome to me:   supermarkets were short on food, breweries didn’t have ample supplies to make beer, and factories weren’t able to produce enough toilet paper.  The country found a simple solution to long lines:  limit who is able to get in line based on the last digit in their ID card.  The successes of the early years of the Chavez regime have disappeared, with violence and poverty rapidly increasing in Venezuela along with inflation.

There are many discussions that can be had about the relative merits of different economic philosophies, and I leave you to them.  What I am more interested in is seeing how we, and more particularly I, can learn from this story.  A couple of the key problems that occurred in Venezuela had to do with how people were selected for positions, a sacrificing of long-term capabilities to cover short term needs, and avoidance of dealing with problems (i.e. printing money, eventually hyperinflation, to fill the funding gap rather than reducing expenditures). 

We need to make sure that we hire well-qualified people who have high integrity to fill positions.  We need to build realistic budgets that look at long-term consequences; if we don’t adequately train our people, equip them with the proper, well-maintained equipment, and adequately fund our infrastructure, we will have long term problems.  We need to identify budget shortfalls quickly, and deal with them in a timely manner; simply ignoring them will only lead to much larger problems in the future that may become insurmountable.

As I look at our current community status, there are many attributes that we are performing admirably on.  Our long-term debt has stabilized over the past few years, while our cash position has dramatically improved.  Operationally, we have been fairly stable in regards to services provided and have been able to continue to fund those operations at a steady rate.  Economically, our community has seen significant positive news over the past few years as well.  From an infrastructure perspective, though, there are still concerns.  We perform street improvements annually and continue to make progress on our mandated combined sewer separation work, but we are limited in what we can perform in the short term without compromising our ability to meet our long term fiscal health.  From an infrastructure perspective, our community is not alone.  Water, sewer, road, and other related infrastructure needs face pressures on a national basis to be able to adequately fund. 

There are many arguments in this line of thought that can be made, and good people with sincere beliefs will arrive at much different answers to the problems.  I will leave it with a parting thought that I have come to a realization that there are a lot of good things that government can do, but it cannot necessarily afford to do all of them.  We are left in a position where we are forced to choose between various goods, and to try to do so wisely in an arena where we need to seek compromise from a community of people who all view this discussion in different ways.

My hope is that I learn from the promise of free housing and cheap gas made in Venezuela.  We can’t deliver everything.  We need to do the best that we can with the limited resources we have, and be honest about those discussions.    

Building Bridges

I was fortunate to attend a training in December for a program entitled Building Bridges Out of Poverty.  The West Burlington School District hosted the event, with around 150 people in attendance.  We had about a dozen city staff in attendance, which I felt was very important given the topic.  We spent a lot of time speaking about how to properly define poverty from a perspective that looks at way more than financial resources.  We spent the day talking about how poverty involves not just a lack of financial resources, but a lot else as well.  Other resources we talked about that are important to a health life are having solid support systems and relationships, good physical health, and a strong motivation.  We also talked about the importance of having good health habits, emotional balance, and a spiritual foundation.  A final area that was discussed in regards to poverty had to do with an understanding of what was termed the “hidden rules” of society and the language used in everyday life, and how a lack of either can lead to an inability to function well in the typical work world of society.

Thinking about poverty from this type of overall perspective was valuable to me.  It was a strong reminder that I need to ensure that I don’t take my expectations of what people should think or do, and apply them to everyone around me and expect them to feel or think the same way.  It just doesn’t work that way.  As I talked about the training afterwards with other department heads that attended the event, I continued to hear the theme of how we need to develop an understanding of the circumstances that others are coming from that we have interactions with.  As we deal with someone who comes from a life of poverty, we need to understand that their ability to arrange for transportation to make it to an appointment, or even their ability to communicate in the formal language style that is considered appropriate in the business world, may not always be what we would take for granted.  As we encounter interactions such as these we need to recognize that we need to learn to adjust our thinking to work through situations.  

Over the coming months, I am excited to see how this training can potentially impact how we do business as a local government, and also how some of the follow-up training program can impact our community.  We have begun to have additional planning sessions occur in our area associated with the Building Bridges program, and I anticipate seeing action taken in multiple areas.  There are efforts underway to begin an 18 week training program within what is called the “Getting Ahead” model, which aims to work in partnership with individuals confronted with poverty on a daily basis.  I look forward to seeing this movement get underway, and encourage you to stay tuned to any announcements that may be forthcoming, and see how you too can be involved.

A Matter of Perspective

I once heard the story of a farmer who lived on the outskirts of a village.  One day, as he was working around his house, a stranger came up to him and asked what the nearby town was like, as he was looking for a new place to live.  The farmer asked this stranger, in turn, what his previous community was like.  The stranger replied that it was a negative place whose citizens were rude, bitter, and mean.  The farmer told the stranger that he would find the nearby village to be very similar to his previous town, to which the stranger determined to keep on going, searching for a better town.  Later that day, another stranger came up to the farmer and asked what type of community was nearby, as he was looking for a new place to live.  The farmer asked this second visitor what his previous community had been like.  This second stranger responded that his previous community had been very supportive, friendly and caring, and that he was hoping to find a new community to live in.  The farmer responded to this second stranger that he was in luck, that the local village was much as he had described his former town to be like.  This second stranger determined to enter the village and become a new resident there.  

This story reflects the impact that your perspective can have on how you perceive things.  I was reminded of this story last week, as I had the opportunity to listen to Shawn Achor speak while at the International City Manager’s Association meeting in Seattle.  Shawn is an author, speaker, and founder of the Institute for Applied Positive Research.  During his presentation in Seattle, he focused on the impact that our perspective has on how we view and interpret the world around us. 

He noted that our brain can process about 40 bits of information per second despite receiving 11 million pieces of information coming in from all sources, including nerve endings.  This means that we end up being selective in which pieces of information that come our way we choose to pay attention to.  This selection process is often unconscious; if we choose to listen to a series of negative news stories in the morning to begin our day, that negative attitude, or perspective, will lead us to evaluate the day’s events based on our morning attitude.  As we confront those 11 million pieces of information each second, the negative morning attitude we developed will be an unconscious selector of the 40 bits our brain chooses to process.  Achor’s point was that if we, however, make a conscious decision to pay attention to positive items at the beginning of the day, that choice will impact our ability to see the day’s events in a positive light.  We will unconsciously be more inclined to process more positive pieces of information throughout the day.

Shawn Achor noted that this simple process of consciously influencing our beginning perspective each morning, of choosing a positive lens to view the world through, will not only influence how we perceive the events of the day, but will have a ripple effect on everyone we come in contact with.  The attitude that we display to others is noted by them, whether consciously or not, and as we display a more positive attitude towards those around us, we can have a positive impact on them as well.  To demonstrate the impact that this type of change can have, Shawn talked about a hospital he worked with that asked its employees to make a practice of smiling and saying “hello” to anyone who came within 5 feet of them.  Over a period of time, this simple behavior change had a significantly positive impact on patient care results, as well as employee workplace attitudes.

Shawn also spent a significant amount of time discussing the factors that influence long term happiness and success.  He talked about how 90% of long term happiness is determined by how you process information.  He also discussed how 75% of job success is determined by the belief that your behavior matters, having a solid social network to support you, and learning how to deal with stress in a meaningful way.

The session left me wanting more.  As a result, I bought one of his books:  The Happiness Advantage:  The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work.  I want to read this for myself, and take the time to think through how I can apply this concept in my life.  In addition, I plan on using it as one of the books that our Leadership team devotes to discussing over the coming months.

I wanted to conclude by revisiting the story of the farmer who was questioned by two new potential residents.  The farmer was wise enough to know that his local village had its strengths and weaknesses, and that the two strangers would likely view those strengths and weaknesses through the same perspective they had made previous evaluations.  Achor would note that the two individuals have very different mindsets on how they view the world around them.  Shawn Achor would also note that the two strangers, and you and I as well, have the ability to consciously choose to use a new perspective to view our community through.  I have been challenged to evaluate how well I am doing at having the appropriate lens as my focal point.