Leadership Equality is Dumbing Down

Last updated on: February 8, 2016 at 11:52 pm by Hugh Ballou

Leadership Equality is Dumbing Down 2016-02-08T23:52:01-04:00 Hugh Ballou

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Being angry and trying to get even with someone is counterproductive to getting ahead. – Hugh Ballou

There’s buzz about equality within government, the church and charities, and in business, creating a culture of mediocrity, attempting to make everyone equal – or the same.

Here’s the dictionary definition of “equality”:

______________________
e·qual·i·ty
əˈkwälədē/
noun

1. the state of being equal, especially in status, rights, and opportunities.
◦ MATHEMATICS  a symbolic expression of the fact that two quantities are equal; an equation.

 plural noun: equalities
_________________

We have said equal, attempting to use the word in the first example; however, in practice we have defined the term to mean the same, such as, 1+1=2. There’s no way that I am the same as anyone else on the planet! I hope you feel unique, as well.

In this sense, equality is NOT the opposite of discrimination. The opposite of discrimination is diversity. Let’s raise the bar, not lower it.

Women say they want equality with men in the workplace. I say that women bring better talents, different insights, and profound wisdom to leadership, so why dumb down to be equal?

Black leaders of both genders say they want equality in positions. I say that cultural diversity brings richness and creativity to the stale and broken systems of the past, so why dumb down to be equal?

Equality is a form of minimalistic thinking that binds us and traps us in minimizing our efforts and, therefore, minimizing ourselves!

The old white guy leadership template is history! It’s time for a change.

The Transformational Leader leads by personal influence and not by position of power, as Murray Bowen defined in his essays on leadership; we change others in any culture by changing ourselves.

John Maxwell defines the 360º leader as influencing everyone in the system, no matter what our position in the organization.

James Allen writes about the power our personal thoughts have over physical things.

Yet we dumb down to what we’ve been taught, to what the system is, no matter what we think, and dumb down to the intimidation of power – both formal and informal.

What if the legendary leaders of the past dumbed down to being “Equal” in society – Martin Luther King, Martin Luther, Mother Theresa, Rosa Parks, Fanny Crosby, Andrew Carnegie, and so many more?

God has created each of us as excellence! Why, then, must we dumb down to mediocrity?

Rather than pushing for equality, let’s strive for the excellence of diversity!

This post in no way is intended to minimize the lack of equal access for all of God’s people in the past. We are all a part of making things better.