January 12, 2021
Help Wanted: The World Needs Leaders
Our society is looking for leaders - leaders who will help them navigate our current challenges safely and pave the way forward to a better tomorrow. It's common for people to put faith in leaders who are on top of political, organizational and societal hierarchies. Unfortunately, they are often disappointed.
In many cases, the most effective leaders who help people navigate challenges and create a better future are a little closer to where people actually live. I would argue that we, as extension professionals, are some of the most effective leaders in Kansas.
I realize that many people reading this are thinking, “I am not a leader.” You are. Leaders come in all shapes and sizes and go about their leadership in a variety of ways. Some leaders lead without even recognizing they are leading. Leaders do have one thing in common. They all have followers.
Gallup once conducted a study to determine why people become followers of leaders. It came down to four things the leader should exemplify: compassion, trust, stability, and hope. We exemplify those characteristics.
People want to know that you care for them and their condition. Every time you conduct a needs analysis, actively listen to a concerned client, or work with a group of concerned community members to determine the critical issues that must be addressed, you are showing compassion. You are showing them that you care. When we conducted the needs analysis via social media last spring to determine our public’s educational needs at the start of the COVID-19 crisis, we showed compassion. When an office professional took the time to listen to a producer who dropped by and was facing financial difficulties due to the poor agricultural economy, that office professional showed compassion. When a 4-H specialist listened to a volunteer’s fear that 4-H was going to be cancelled, that specialist showed compassion.
We develop trust by delivering on what is needed. When we determined one of the main concerns at the beginning of the COVID-19 challenge was living on a reduced income, our specialists and agents delivered programming related to household budgeting, bill paying, and navigating the benefits system. When an office professional arranged for a producer to meet with our Kansas Agricultural Mediation Services and Farm Analyst teams, that office professional developed trust. When a 4-H specialist worked with our agents and program managers and assistants to develop safer ways for 4-H participants to have camp-like experiences and project capstone activities, that 4-H specialist and the specialist’s colleagues developed trust with our 4-H volunteers and participants.
We provide stability by providing a sense of the familiar to help people focus on what they can control in turbulent times. The mere fact that we were available to offer education which helped people deal with challenging times provided a sense of stability by giving them something familiar. When an FCS agent, KAMS team member, farm analyst, or others in our organization helps a client understand and focus on issues they control, they are providing stability. By providing alternative project capstone activities that are still deeply rooted in the traditions of 4-H, the 4-H specialist and the specialist’s colleagues are providing stability.
Hope is the belief that there can and will be a better tomorrow. Our whole profession and system is based on hope. Although we do not provide the magical hope that suddenly everything bad will disappear, we help provide hope that really works. We help people apply research-backed knowledge, techniques and concepts to life’s challenges. When they do that, they can create what everyone hopes for in the future: better lives, livelihoods and communities.
Society is looking for leaders in these turbulent times: a leader who shows compassion; someone who has and continues to develop their trust; someone who offers both stability and hope. Fellow extension professionals, we are the leaders they seek, and we always have been.