Many of us, spoke up passionately and vehemently condemning the protests and violence of the past year. I again condemn the protests and violence of today. The sides don’t matter. The emotions are strikingly similar. The results of our collective lack of action and appeasement have proven to be tragic and so very sad. The pursuit of uniformity is utopia and ridiculous. We CAN and must embrace a unity of purpose that binds US rather than divides us.

Quoting President Elect Biden, “enough is enough”... I add that enough was enough long ago.

— unity of purpose is hard enough. Uniformity of action is utopian. If your premise requires ALL to comply then it is unachievable in a free society and indeed silly, naive, and utterly useless.

It is done now. Recovering from the sound and fury is not simple and everyone does it differently. Our societal leaders rang the fear bell in March. We the people responded and hid away from life and one another. We denied our basic needs for community and faith and fellowship and embraced FEAR as our overseer. Authoritarian tendencies were encouraged because it was for the greater good, for public health, to save our most at risk, to save ourselves.
we the people are now afraid. Our fragile hold on trusting one another has been ripped away in most cases. Instead we now rely on the TV, on the Internet, on the government.
Dictators and authoritarians know that fear binds us. They use it to manipulate and control us. It is then followed by force.

The solution to the sound of fear is the liberty bell. We stand up and sing together of our faith in God, and one another. We must embrace our lives and living in place of fear. We cannot unring the fear bell that our #idiotsincharge rang so recklessly but we can stand together and ring a whole chorus of bells into the future filled with faith, hope, and love. The fear is always there but it can be overcome with faith.

Lord Northam ... week ago. Would not consider a regionalized strategy assisting western and southern VA... he said that politics would divide his beloved commonwealth and it was not safe.

-->> Today(now) - Will allow NOVA to be considered separately from the rest of the state. Here is hoping ALL of my NOVA friends come to SWVA to visit, shop, and seek entertainment. True southerners welcome you. Bless your hearts.

When we in SWVA speak, he disregards utterly. When NOVA speaks(Dems) — he steps up and salutes, changing direction. His floor is only hard if you disagree. This flip flop behavior is so typical of Dems and it IS DEPLORABLE. Politics of regions only matter to those in charge... Dems must be ejected for western and southern va to ever have a chance at prospering. Lord Northam is concerned about his control over regions, not the citizen’ safety or “unity” -

Lots of talk about toxic leadership communications and styles... in governments, companies, teams, even churches and families: themes are the same

my definition and thoughts: doing more harm than good with no positive outlook or plans on display... it is like fighting a disease... you can’t kill the patient while you make them more healthy... and what definition of healthy is valid? Organizations and governments are organisms. Living and breathing. See the systems. See the leaders. See the levers of change and gauge words and actions... Principles and practice merge into plans which must improve results.
To leaders everywhere. In order to get what you want, first you must know what you want. Then start pulling levers. Don’t destroy divide and diminish unless you plan to kill the patient or have a path to recovery laid out.

#leadersermons

Board/Team/Leadership/Session/Council meetings must be inspired small group discussions about growth rather than large gatherings of disinterested people listening to staff reports. — time is a precious asset. Some maintenance-operations must be managed in meetings, but plans AND RESULTS need to qualified and quantified against investment-mission-growth.

Staff focuses on operations and execution. “Executive” Leadership focuses on mission and evaluating results and the right mix of assets is in the tank to ensure that the engine is efficiently powering ahead.

Will the engine handle the rough road ahead?
Are you spending any time truly assessing the steps ahead against the roads already taken?