It happened while on the international trip in South Africa. Should I do it or not? Actually, it was not something to be done. It was communication to be expressed–a critical conversation. There are many reasons why people choose to delay or not express thoughts, information, or other insights.
Some of the reasons include avoiding embarrassment of yourself or others, not wanting to offend, minding your own business, or in the case of VALOR: risk offending a stakeholder, donor, fellow VALOR member, or person who graciously lets us tour their property, business, and/or provide food for us.
The urge of leadership can be defined as that internally quite moment when your team says, “no” or “hold back” and you want to throttle-up ahead! In other words, you are weighing the risks and rewards for listening to your team about making the decision to move forward. Here was my leadership urgency:
South Africa has a land reformation issue involving the ownership redistribution of land that was taken through colonialism and apartheid strategies. In other words, “you took it from me, now I will take it from you.” Interestingly, I am reminded of Malcolm X’s paraphrased words, “be glad we seek respect and not revenge.” Many farmers have been attacked and we met such a farmer and there was a request to not ask about the attack.
Shhhh, do you hear it….lump dump, lump dump, lump dump…it’s getting faster and faster….this is my heart as the urge of all that VALOR is supposed to be was on the line in my head. In other words, based on critical conversations we are supposed to be able to find a way to communicate regardless of the topic.
So, do I risk loosing the respect of my VALOR colleagues and ask the question or obtain what VALOR is supposed to teach me how to do?
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