On Leadership

TUESDAY, MAY 18, 2010

QUOTE OF THE DAY

"Leadership has a moral dimension that power does not. Power is manipulative. It is the exploitation of other people's motives in order to realize the power holder's objectives. The real leader relates to the genuine wants and needs and aspirations of his followeres rather that manipulating them for his own ends."

- James McGregor Burns
From "Leadership"


I've been thinking about that quote and about leaders. It seems to me we have a definite lack of political leadership in Canada today - at least in the realm of politics. I'm not saying we don't have any hard working and dedicated politcians. I'm merely saying that I can't think of any living Canadian politican who greatly inspires me. I can't think of any Canadian politician today who will go down in history as a great Canadian. Where are the Macdonalds and Lauriers and Pearsons? Where have you gone Nellie McClung, Pierre Trudreau and Tommy Douglas? One may not have always agreed with them, but at least they showed leadership. They made Canadians think and reflect and debate. Our current crop of political leaders appears to be too busy sniping at each other and putting partisanship before the good of the country.

Fortunately, outside of politics, we do have some leadership. We have Canadians such as Craig Kielburger and David Suzuki who are inspiring, who are displaying leadership. I would like to seem someone fill the political vacuum.

FOCUS ON HISTORY

On this day in 1980, Mount St. Helens erupted in the state of Washington. This is the 30th anniversary of that disaster in which 57 people lost their lives and thousands of animals died. Now we have a volcano in Iceland that is causing havoc by disrupting air travel.


SPORTS

Well, the Montreal Canadiens were beaten badly in the first game of their series with the Philadelphia Flyers. They have a chance to redeem themselves tonight, but they are going to have to play much better if they want to keep their dream alive.

I'm pleased that the Chicageo Blackhawks defeated the San Jose Sharks in the first gamee of that series.

The Blue Jays' winning streak came to an end yesterday with a loss to the Minnesota Twins. I've got to say, the Twins looked good. Former Blue Jay Orlando(Ol Dog) Hudson came back to haunt his old team. Hudson played really well and British Columbia native Justin Marneau hit two home runs. The bad news for the Jays is that Travis Snider is injured and on the 15-day DL. He was starting to play really well too. I hope this isn't a bad set back for the 22-year-old native of the Seattle area.

- Joanne