Seeking a new world of leadership

Edward Headington

Last winter, a copy of the leadership plan I developed for my

Leadership & Politics course at The George Washington University’s

Graduate School of Political Management was sent to one of my mentors,

author and USC Professor Dr. Warren Bennis.

While I like to think of myself as a young Alexander and he my

instructive Aristotle, I was flattered when, after readying the plan, he

asked me to speak at his o7 Festschriftf7 in the spring. Just last

Saturday, I flew from Washington, D.C. to Los Angeles to pay tribute to

an outstanding individual and also to offer my thoughts on Generation X

and our views on politics. I can assure you it was a heady experience and

it is worth pausing to share some of my findings.

For students of history and those of us inspired by political leaders,

the life and legacy of Robert F. Kennedy stands as a testament.

Throughout his life and especially in his later years, Kennedy chanted

the activist mantra: “This is unacceptable. We can do better.”

His desire to take action and hold himself to standards no one else of

his generation could possibly hold themselves moved this young man to

follow his lead. In 1967, he released “To Seek a Newer World,” which

played upon Tennyson’s words that “Tis not too late to seek a newer

world” and I used that charge as the theme for my meditations and

ruminations on “Xers.”

Defining leadership is a generational endeavor. While the traits and

behaviors of leaders can be timeless, each generation must filter it

through its own experience. There is no “leadership Shangri-La,” as Dr.

Bennis reminds his students and readers. Shying away political careers,

Xers choose to “live their politics.” We effect change by volunteering

and involving ourselves in the community. The model for this type of

leadership appears to be what author and community activist Bill Shore

calls the servant leader. It is servant leadership that is replacing

political leadership and community leadership that is supplanting

national leadership.

This will likely be the trend in the years ahead until a major event

-- i.e. recession, social disorder or major foreign policy crisis --

draws us back into the political system. The current shift from political

activism to direct community service causes many observers to question

our commitment to a robust democracy. But perhaps our servant model will

take our nation in a new political direction. I liken the present

situation to that of the qawwal music of Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan. It starts

off slow and simple, gradually intensifies, and then works up into a

crescendo that overwhelms the listener.

With California having one of the largest populations of young people

in the nation, we are ground zero for witnessing the blending of servant

leadership into political leadership. Abraham Lincoln is by far the

greatest president our nation has produced, but the next great political

leader will come from Generation X. For the moment, she, or he, is

seeking a newer world by serving the community and living the words of

Mahatma Gandhi, who said, “We must be the change we wish to see in the

world.”

* Burbank native EDWARD HEADINGTON is a former aide to Assembly member

Scott Wildman and currently is in the Leadership Tract of the Graduate

School of Political Management at The George Washington University. Reach

him at edwardwest@aol.com.