Image by Maike und Björn Bröskamp from Pixabay
29 hours listening to ‘The Promised Land’. (That's a lot of cooking, cleaning, home stuff done!) What repeatedly struck me was how often President Obama had to compromise, frequently in stark contrast to the idealism that he was called out on and criticised for. (What is wrong with idealism anyway?)
Like many leaders Obama was often faced with holding multiple perspectives at once, not one offering a perfect solution.
What is clear throughout the book is that he found a way to sit with all the discomfort and complexity, in part because of his own embodiment, in large part because around him he made sure there was deep discussion, diversity of thinking, robust challenge and quality reflection time.
I know it’s tempting to hold Obama on some kind of pedestal. I don’t want to do that here; there are certainly places in the book when you can see through some of the cracks.
But as we begin to navigate the challenge establishing a post-lockdown normal, there will be many paradoxes ahead with few perfect answers. They will ask us to dig into emotional maturity, deep self-awareness and, wisdom - all of which comes from within.
Ha, so what else is new 😉?
