Paganistan: Notes from the Secret Commonwealth
In Which One Midwest Man-in-Black Confers, Converses & Otherwise Hob-Nobs with his Fellow Hob-Men (& -Women) Concerning the Sundry Ways of the Famed but Ill-Starred Tribe of Witches.
The Thing About Leadership
The priest-in-residence of our regional pagan land sanctuary was taking us to see the sacred spring.
Never having been that way before, we kept stopping to look, for indeed, there was much to see.
The priest kept going. He never looked back. Eventually we lost him.
In time we found his trail, and he brought us into the secret valley where, among its lost orchard, the Ancient Tree bears its golden apples, and the Hidden Spring flows sweet and pure.
In this Season of the Ancestors, I remember my teacher, Tony Kelly (1943-1997).*
He, too, led without looking back.
In his letters, I see his loneliness and sorrow. He was so far ahead that the rest of us lost sight. It took me years to find the trail he'd blazed.
The thing about leadership is, you have to keep looking back.
The thing about leadership is, you have to let them keep you in sight.
*Writer Michael Howard once described Tony Kelly to me as having had "horns of gold and hooves of clay."
Comments
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Friday, 10 November 2017I agree with Tasha. And I found out by accident... and first-hand... you keep doing lead by example - it can be a tad scary if you stop to look behind you and realize just how many chose to follow you. Makes a person humble real fast.
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Interesting observation. I prefer to lead by example rather than any other way. That way you don't have to worry about losing sight of others or they you.