Take us to your Leader.

Today, I have been ruminating about leadership. One of my favorite "leaders" of all time is Tenzin Gyatso, aka HH the Dalai Lama.

Let me preface this by saying that I am not a practicing Buddhist, nor am I an expert on him or his teachings. I have read one of his books, some excerpts, and watched a few TV interviews with him. I have also been to the town where he currently lives in India, but he wasn't there at the time. 

HH is my favorite leader because he exudes joy, wisdom, and love. He inspires and builds other people up. Despite having much to feel sad or angry about in his life, he chooses to preach non-violence and peace. He is humble and can laugh at himself. His lifestyle is simple, far from lavish. He shows us that strength doesn't mean just being the biggest or loudest person; strength is mental. He uses his "fame" to spread positive messages around the world. And, he spreads his message of love without telling anyone else what they should believe on any particular issue. He doesn't care if you're a Buddhist or not, he just wants you to be kind to each other. 

That's it. It would be hard for anyone to assert he has any ulterior motives, aside from still wanting his home country to be considered a sovereign state. 

I have been annoyed lately at the lack of leadership I have seen lately in the US government. There are people that hold titles, but a lot of those people don't seem to act like leaders, at least not in the same way that HH acts like a leader. Maybe the Dalai Lama floats your boat, or maybe he doesn't. It's fair to assume that you, reader, don't share my ideals. I'm cool with that. But my purpose in writing about leadership tonight is to implore you to think about the qualities you believe a good leader should possess. And, if the people we consider leaders aren't showing those qualities, maybe we need to start looking at new/different people.

I just decided something new I'm going to do. Every time I hear about a "leader" saying or doing something that shows the antithesis of leadership, I'm going to read something (even if only a short excerpt) written by someone who acts like a real leader, and spend my time thinking about that instead.