- 2nd in a Series - The Leadership Files -
“The best quality of a leader is not wanting to be a leader,” said the ancient Greek philosopher Plato. This quality is probably the rarest of all when the need for a leader comes up. Part of man's nature is to set themselves up as their own god. It’s a small leap from there to controlling other people.
Here is a short story of a leader who did not want to be… a leader.
In the era of the Roman Republic when the country was threatened, they would appoint a single man to rule with absolute power. WITH the understanding that he would relinquish power after the crisis had abated
The last time this happened in Rome was with one Julius Caesar—if you know your history, we all know how well that went.
Prior to that unfortunate incident, however, there was another man named Lucius Quintus Cincinnatus who gave up all of his power as a dictator not once but twice for the sake of Roman law. The first time he was thrust into power he was literally minding his own business behind a plow on his farm when a messenger came and announced that a foreign threat had arisen, and he had been selected as head of state. He faithfully fulfilled his duty and then quit to return to farming. Ironically enough, this man had not seen the end of his days as emperor. At the age of eighty, he was approached again under similar circumstances. He initiated a full restoration of order and a PEACEFUL TRANSFER OF POWER.
In America, we have been blessed by God to have such a man as our first president, the one George Washington, who stepped down after two terms both of which he did not want, even as the American people were clamoring for him to be declared king. In fact, as he was announced president, he felt as though he were a “condemned man being taken to his place of execution” as he rode his carriage through the streets of the then capital city of New York on his way to be sworn in as America's first president. After his resignation, the other George, the King of England, said “if he truly did that, he must be the greatest man in the world”
Imagine if the world was full of leaders who were rushed into office by their citizens instead of having clawed tooth and nail to get into office themselves? Food for thought.
As trite as it may be, some of the finest candidates never really run for office but are thrust into it by necessity and divine providence.
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Ian Freeze
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