What Progress Means

The worst mistake the leaders of the present can make is to fail to recognize different talent and make room for the leaders of the future. When given the opportunity, those with different voices and visions will then become the leaders of their present times. Then, when the time comes, it will fall upon them -- just as it had to the leaders that came before them -- to make the same call as their elders had done, to recognize emergent talent, and to make room for those that will lead in the future. 

This is what progress looks like. 

It requires discernment among all of us to know when the right time is -- the right time to lead, and the right time to serve. When to be a student, and when to be a teacher. The "right time" will vary for all of us. There is no hard and fast rule. It is up to us to figure it out on our own and together. This is because we have moved on from only listening to a single, dominant voice. Different visions and voices can now exist and not destroy each other. That in itself is an undeniable product of progress. The task now is to not get lost in just the specifics. 

Big ideas still matter. Inspiration matters. Dreams matter. And the worst mistake the leaders of the present can make is to fail to recognize and make room for the dreams of those who could be the leaders of the future.