[nfbmi-talk] Fw: Leadership & Empowerment Revisited

joe harcz Comcast joeharcz at comcast.net
Thu Dec 4 15:55:56 UTC 2014


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Terry D. Eagle via nfbmi-talk" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
To: "'NFB of Michigan Internet Mailing List'" <nfbmi-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Thursday, December 04, 2014 9:37 AM
Subject: [nfbmi-talk] Leadership & Empowerment Revisited


> Given the tone and judgment of some on this list in the past day, I offer
> and revisit the May 8 post by Terri Wilcox.  Justin's final paragraph says
> all that needs to be said.
>
>
>
> Too bad and how sad this was not the focus, theme, and content  of the
> leadership seminar held in September, rather than an agenda and event that
> took on an atmosphere and result of division, disempowerment and
> discouragement of valuable members without a title, and who have a genuine
> dedication to the NFB philosophy and mission.
>
> From Terri Wilcox:
>
> "     I was just reading an article from the April Braille Monitor. I
> thought it was excellent and so I am posting it to the list. Have fun
> reading it. I thought it was really neat how Justin Salisbury thought
> through Dr. Maurer's Banquet address from last year and applied it to his
> field of study. He shows how each of us using power can help empower 
> others
> in our Affiliate. I hope you enjoy the article as much as I did."  --Terri
> Wilcox
>
>
>
> Braille Monitor                                              April 2014
>
>
>
> Economics of Leadership: Is Power Rival?
>
> by Justin Salisbury
>
>
>
> From the Editor: Justin Salisbury is a doctoral student in Agricultural 
> and
> Applied Economics at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Originally from
> Connecticut, he earned his bachelor's degree at East Carolina University 
> and
> then attended the Louisiana Center for the Blind. He has been active in 
> our
> movement everywhere he has lived. Here's what Justin has to say:
>
>
>
> Justin SalisburyThe science of economics is the allocation of scarce
> resources to achieve maximum well-being. All finite resources, including 
> air
> and sunlight, are considered scarce. One characteristic in economics which
> helps define the type of good is whether or not the good is rival. If a 
> good
> is rival, one person's consumption of it restricts another person's 
> ability
> to consume it. For example, if I buy an NFB of New Jersey Whozit necktie,
> there is one fewer Whozit necktie available for you to buy. If I eat a
> banana, that banana is gone, and it is most unlikely that anyone else will
> ever be able to eat it.
>
>
>
>
>
> At the banquet of the 2013 National Federation of the Blind Convention,
> President Marc Maurer said, "One misunderstanding about the nature of 
> power
> is that this commodity is finite, limited in quantity, and shared only by
> the fortunate few. To get power it is (according to some) necessary to 
> seize
> it from the hands of others."
>
>
>
> Someone with this misguided philosophy views power as rival. Such a person
> would say that, if I exercise power, there is less power available for you
> or your neighbor to exercise. If I exercise power, someone who views power
> as rival would view me as a threat to her own power.
>
>
>
> In the National Federation of the Blind, we work together to enhance each
> other's ability to exercise power and thus empower each other. Whenever I
> read an article or hear a speech delivered by another Federation leader, I
> am learning how to do better work myself. When Trevor Attenberg writes a
> brilliant letter, I get out my dictionary and absorb a masterly 
> articulation
> of the capacity of blind people, or a new approach to conflict resolution. 
> I
> can then use those techniques to enhance my power, and Trevor's exercise 
> of
> power actually adds to mine. It does not subtract from it. This experience
> provides a counterexample and argues that power is non-rival.
>
>
>
> I now serve as legislative coordinator and first vice president of the
> National Federation of the Blind of Wisconsin (NFBW) and president of our
> Dane County Chapter. NFBW President John Fritz always supports and
> encourages my efforts. His support and encouragement empower me further, 
> and
> any power that I have adds to the power of our affiliate. As our affiliate
> grows more powerful, the power of each affiliate member in turn increases.
> When we empower each other, we empower ourselves, too.
>
>
>
> By contrast, someone who views power as rival might think he has an
> incentive to try to undercut and undermine the potential for power in 
> anyone
> else who might exercise it. Such a person could try to break apart every
> other power structure in his/her affiliate in order to keep all of the 
> power
> around him/herself. Such a person would weaken the organization and
> therefore weaken him/herself.
>
>
>
> Though power is not rival, titles frequently are. There is only one
> president of the Connecticut Association of Blind Students (CTABS). As 
> long
> as I am CTABS President, nobody else can also be CTABS President.
>
>
>
> There is often a view that power intrinsically lies within titles. Some
> believe that a president is powerful, at least in part, because she is
> president. She has acquired the rival title of president and is thus
> powerful. If this were true, then it would also mean that people without
> titles automatically have less power. If we accept this idea, then we are
> disempowering ourselves so long as we do not hold the top title in the
> organization in question. The less power we have, the less power the
> organization has, the less effective the organization will be, and the 
> less
> power each member has. If we disempower ourselves, we disempower our
> presidents, executive directors, and the like.
>
> If we want our movement to be powerful, we need to recognize that we all
> have power as individuals and that power is non-rival. A transformational
> leader is an agent of change, so every Federationist is a transformational
> leader. A leader is powerful to the degree that he empowers others, so we
> must empower each other, titles or not, to achieve equality, opportunity,
> and security for the blind.
>
>
>
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