Discord or Discourse

#Beingaleader means you need to make a decision whether you will participate in discord or discourse. Too many leaders make the wrong decision. As a result, they use their influence to sow discord rather than encourage civil discourse.

By discord, I mean creating an environment where opinion becomes fact and one’s opinion is greater or higher than another’s. Many times this is based upon emotion rather than fact.

By discourse I mean the ability to agree to disagree. The ability to disagree while remaining civil like brothers and sisters.

It is time for us leaders to stand up and create an opportunity for discourse and stop the discord that is permeating our culture. There are many bad leaders who are sowing discord rather than helping to create civil discourse. That needs to stop. In addition there are too many leaderless people who are waiting for leaders to stand up and be counted among those encouraging civil discourse.

An emotional topic should not prevent civil discourse. But too many times we open our mouths before opening our minds. In the Book of James the author tells us to be quick to listen and slow to speak. That is sage advice for us today. We need to be leaders who are quick to listen and slow to speak.

If we could learn that one lesson, we could return to the days when this country was founded. Where men of differing opinions and strong disagreement could still civily discourse amongst themselves to create what I believe was the greatest country this world had ever seen. They vehemently disagreed with each other. They all had differing opinions and emotional responses to the circumstances they found themselves in as a burgeoning country. It took great leaders like Presidents George Washington and John Adams and Thomas Jefferson. Men full of faults and sins and many disagreements but nonetheless could unite to create the American experiment.

If the leaders of today will not stand for civil discourse but rather push for discord among the people, they not only abdicate their leadership in my view but they will be remembered as part of the cause of the problem rather than part of the cure that this country so desperately needs today.

#Beingaleader means we need to encourage civil discourse and stop sowing the seeds of discord.