The Sixth Sense

A new kind of model

Following on from yesterday’s post about a new kind of leadership, in the same article I referred to, there was another fascinating comment by Peter Leyden of the New Politics Institute. Here’s what he had to say:

“What’s amazing is that Hillary (Clinton) built the best campaign that has ever been done in Democratic politics on the old model—she raised more money than anyone before her, she locked down all the party stalwarts, she assembled an all-star team of consultants, and she really mastered this top-down, command-and-control type of outfit. And yet, she’s getting beaten by this political start-up (Barack Obama campaign) that is essentially a totally different model of the new politics.” (Emphasis mine)

My interest in sharing this is not as a political statement. I do think though that there are parallels for those of us who are involved in organisations, businesses, churches, etc. One of the biggest challenges is making sure we don’t become slaves to any one model. Because the world around us is constantly changing we too need to have models that are flexible enough to adapt.

Something we all need to think about is whether we see the world around us through the models we use or whether we see the world around us and then choose models to serve the world as it is.

As well as this, another thing we can draw out from the differences between the Clinton and Obama campaigns is that Clinton was institution based whereas Obama was people based. And the reality is that people’s trust of institution is in rapid decline (particularly amongst the younger generations).

Whatever our organisation, do we want it to be an institutional hierarchy or a people based movement?

What do you think?

If you haven’t already, please reply to the ‘Who Are You?’ post. Thanks!

Tags: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, Leadership, Models, Politics

A new kind of leadership

I just came across this from Barack Obama’s new-media director Joe Rospars. He was talking about how the Obama camp has been able to build such a successful grassroots campaign, particularly in relation to raising funds.

“We’ve tried to bring two principles to this campaign, one is lowering the barriers to entry and making it as easy as possible for folks who come to our Web site. The other is raising the expectation of what it means to be a supporter. It’s not enough to have a bumper sticker. We want you to give five dollars, make some calls, host an event. If you look at the messages we send to people over time, there’s a presumption that they will organize.” (Emphasis mine)

Read the full article here.

This really resonated with me because it captured precisely some of what we’ve been trying to do with pioneering Mosaic here in Sheffield. 

Mosaic is a movement of dreamers and visionaries who are working together to try and create a world that works for everyone. At the heart of this movement, is a community of followers of Jesus Christ.

And, as a community, two of our expressed goals have been to:

• Lower the bar on what it means to be and do ‘church’
• Raise the bar on what it means to be a follower of Christ

People have had enough of being spectators. They want to be involved. For too long leadership has been about doing it yourself. Leadership should be about equipping and empowering others to be involved and engaged.

This is why Obama is on the brink of winning the Democratic nomination when he should never have been in with a shout. And this is the direction leaders of any kind of community need to go if they’re not going to get left behind in this new 21st century world.

What do you think?

Don’t forget to reply to the ‘Who Are You?’ post. Thanks!

Tags: Barack Obama, Church, Leadership, Mosaic, Politics