In this weeks readings and podcast, my biggest takeaway was that everyone contributes to any kind of difference made. For instance, in the podcast, Dr. Bezio tells us that our job as leadership scholars is to realize that the people on the podium are only the tip of the iceberg. It is not only their job to take action.
One quote that stuck out to me in the reading was, “the problem is not that we have so little power. The problem is that we don’t use the power that we have.” From this, I took away the fact that people assume that any effort they do to make change is so little and won’t add up to anything. In reality, we need smaller actions to impact or create a larger one. In regard to that, we cannot stand by and expect the “tip of the iceberg” leaders to do all the work. If we do, the whole system could come crashing down on us, because one person is not enough to hold together an entire system.
I also liked the quote, “The future Is an infinite succession of presents and to live now as we think human beings should.” I think this is important for people to understand. We must set the example that we want to see in the world. We cannot just stand by, think we have no power and think that someone higher up will do something. Our opinions and actions matter. They are what will build up to a larger action or change.
I had very similar thoughts about smaller actions and how they are needed in order to create larger actions. I think it’s easy to forget about all the steps needed it takes to make change, yet the small steps are often the most important and foundational ones.
To add to the fact that we need to understand that a leader is just the tip of the ice burg, I feel like it goes along with the discussion that virtuosity does not need to just be reserved for those who are famous. It is scary to think any small thing you do would have any real impact, but it can and the evidence for that is everything underneath the ice burg. All of those little things hold up that one leader and, I agree, it’s important to remember that.
I really appreciate your quote about the future being a series of presents. I am the kind of person who tends to look for the big picture first, and then work big to small. One drawback of this kind of thinking is that sometimes the little details (or the collection of the little moments that need to be compiled in order to reach the big picture goal) can overwhelm me. This quote encapsulates a better approach. If we all just focus on handling what is immediately in front of us each day, consistency will compound.
I thought the quote about power was really insightful. This is similar to the argument of people who don’t vote because “it won’t make a difference”. But as we saw last November, people used their power and changed the tide. We will never get anywhere within our own lives or within society if we always assume that we shouldn’t do something because that action is too small. If everyone does their small actions, we can start to fill the ponds (as mentioned in the podcast)!
I think it is important to think about the power we have, and how we use this power in making a change in our own lives. People become complacent at times, feeling powerless in their society to make change; however, we can all wield some power, whether it be in our homes, workplace, or even just in choosing how we act to make the change we want to see.