Yesterday, The Winters Group hosted a Virtual Learning Lab titled “Leading from the Heart”, part one of a three-part series title Leading Inclusively: The Master Class. During this lab, Principal Strategist Susan McCuistion explored the tools necessary for leaders to lead from the heart and leverage the 7 Principles of Compassionate Diversity® to create teams and environments of authenticity, vulnerability, and resilience.
As I reflected on this idea of leading from the heart, I couldn’t help but think of the victims of the school shooting in Parkland, Florida. After Nikolas Cruz left 17 students and faculty members dead in the third deadliest school shooting in U.S. history this Valentine’s Day, we witnessed the students of MSD High School react with passion and courage. They initiated the #NeverAgain movement less than 48 hours after the shooting to call for stricter gun laws and to ultimately put an end to a problem that older generations failed to fix – our nation’s mass shooting and lack of gun control laws.
After seeing these students’ resilience in the wake of such a tragedy—a resilience that has allowed them to remain vulnerable enough to share their stories and authentic enough to share their anger and fear –it became clear to me that they are modelling what it means to lead from the heart. They are not only calling for action, but they are doing so in a way that, like the Black Lives Matter movement and the Dreamer movement before it, demands all of us to respond with our hearts. They are asking questions like, “Can you imagine what it feels like…” and “How can you expect us to be silent when…” They may be speaking from desperation, but it’s an authentic desperation, and one that we should all be feeling for our young people in the midst of a gun crisis. They are beginning to shift our national mindset around what it means to be safe as well as what it means to lead.
The #NeverAgain movement is gaining support from powerful people and powerful organizations, and these students are nowhere close to backing down. This movement is so powerful because it offers a brave space for people to speak up and speak out, and forces those who were once silent to listen and respond. As the movement continues to catch fire and grow, it will hopefully leave a lasting effect on generations to come. As one student mentioned during her conversation with CBS News, “The fact that we personally are speaking out this time, I believe it will make a difference!” Will you follow their lead?
