A key element of PFund’s mission is to develop leaders. Among the staff and Board, we ask a lot of questions about what it means to develop leaders and, related to that, what exactly individual leadership means. How can organizations be community leaders? What is the role of listening in leadership and when does listening lead to action? What should be expected of an individual leader in relationship to broader communities?
We’ve recently had the opportunity to dive deeply into these questions again while going through the scholarship review process. Like all review processes, scholarships are selected by groups of community members. Diverse in their LGBT identities, in their life experiences and in their understandings of leadership, this group gets together to go over all of the applications and match up individuals with scholarships.
As showcased in the press release, these scholars represent a powerful group of leaders. They are as diverse as the group who selected them and that diversity includes their understanding of their own leadership. Again, what exactly is individual leadership?
To reflect on that question, we went to thinking about anatomy, wondering what 800,000 years of evolution might teach us about leadership and making change.
Free radicals are a unique kind of atom in the body: they can change their electronic signature from negative to positive or they can carry zero charge. Free radicals move throughout the body, attaching and repelling atoms from one organ to the next, sometimes causing problems and sometimes supporting important change. Free radicals are an important part of the immune system. They help determine which cells or tissues are harmful to the body and need to be broken down or built up. They are free-moving, hence their name, and their independence, literally, helps them to identify problems that other aspects of the body can’t easily “see.”
This same skill set, this independent and free movement, can be a problem. Free radicals can destroy cell membranes, disrupt crucial processes in the body, reprogram DNA, form mutant cells and generally cause significant cellular degeneration or, as many believe, out of control cell reproduction, otherwise known as cancer.
Free radicals are an incredibly important part of our system when they work along with the body as a whole, identifying what is dangerous to the system and supporting the body to shift what is dangerous. Free radicals work against the system when they choose their own direction, working away from the body’s needs and wellness.
And this is a blog about individual leadership. The metaphor is hopefully obvious at this point. What is the role of an individual leader and how are they accountable to the larger community? Go ahead, let all of the tongue-in-cheek moments take up some time – hey, I know a free radical! You should see the number of bumperstickers on their car, hardy har har. But very seriously, sometimes it takes the unique perspective of an individual to give voice to something that needs to change. This is individual leadership – being able to speak against the tide, to draw our attention to something we have been missing, and to then work with us to make the necessary change.
When individual leaders work outside of the community context, meaning they are separate from systems of accountability and transparency, they have the potential of causing more damage than good.
PFund is so excited to present to you the list of scholarship recipients for 2011. We are honored to be in community with this group of individuals who have taught us, yet again, the strength of an individual voice. We also want to acknowledge that while we could not provide scholarships for all those who applied, we still recognize the breadth of individual leadership demonstrated by each applicant. Please celebrate them with us, knowing that who they are and what they do only helps to make us all of us stronger.
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