Leadership

Leadership in Block's point of view is about being a social architect. A leader is someone who builds an environment where there is accountability, relationships between citizens, and commitment from each and every member. It is not a social hierarchy, where the leader is at the top and everyone must follow his or her vision. Block wants leaders to create experiences where everyone can participate and can engage with one another. The context must shift from attention to the leader and move towards attention to the citizens. The leader needs to recognize that citizens have the power to change the community. Engaging the voice and opinions of citizens enables the community to be more productive as a whole. There is also a point in the book about having small groups of people come together, so that there are personal and inviting conversations about transformation. In small groups, people feel comfortable discussing whatever topic is at hand, and they are more willing to participate.

I find Block's ideas of leadership to be meaningful and useful. I can relate to it because I am a leader of a group of people. As I began our meeting last night, I discovered that the things that Block says about engaging citizens and members are true. I looked around the room, especially at the faces of the nine new members, and I realized that the talking I was doing seemed useless. In other words, I need to construct the meeting in a way so that the new members can engage in conversations and feel that they have a part in the process. I certainly see the value of a small group, because now that we almost have twenty members, as opposed to only ten members last year, the group dynamic will definitely change. It will be important for the new members to feel like they belong, and that not only are they getting something from the meeting but can contribute to the group. I am sure that splitting the large group into smaller groups will be helpful so that every voice is heard.

Speaking of leaders, I think that in Half Nelson, the teacher did end up being a role model to the student. I think I had shift in point of view as the movie progressed and from our discussion in class about the definition of a role model. I began thinking that a role model is someone who knows how to differentiate between doing what is right and what is wrong. Therefore, I didn't think that the teacher was a role model because of his drug addiction, especially since his student found out about it. By the end of class, I discovered that my definition of role model perhaps has changed. I think that a role model is someone who people can look up to, but is not perfect in every way. He or she can make mistakes or do things that might seem wrong, but the ultimate factor is whether they can pick up the pieces and learn from his mistakes. In the end of the movie, it seemed like the teacher was going to change his ways and showed the student that he could overcome obstacles, so I thought that he could be considered a role model.

Leaders and role models have important tasks of shaping and constructing the environment around them. They affect the way citizens, members, and students think, communicate, and develop as human beings. It is important for leaders to keep the energy and aliveness in our lives flowing, so that we can all engage in transforming our community into a productive place.