Leading into....?

When you think of "leader" doesn't it conjure certain images? When I think of leader, I think of someone I can trust, someone who knows more than I do and most of all, someone who knows the way.

This past Friday, I joined a group of women so amazing that I feel completely humbled to call them my sisters -- I graduated from the Feminist Leadership Academy. Our class, the Class of 2009, self-named the (r)Evolutionaires, matriculated amidst chaos. Typically, FLA classes have involved three full weeks on retreat, at the Moye Spiritual Life Center. I have been interested in attending this program since its inception in 2004, but with two children at home and all associated busyness, I was never able to commit to that time frame. Sometime last summer, Mary Pierce Brosmer, founder of Women Writing for (a) Change and the Feminist Leadership Academy, decided to try a new model -- two extended weekend at our writing center in Cincinnati, and one week on retreat.

That schedule felt like a great (and very generous) compromise. So Mary began planning to gather her class last summer and the wheels started falling off. I went on my unexpected leave of absence and the economy crumbled. (edited to add: as far as I know, the economy crumbling and my leave of absence are totally unrelated)

But Mary sensed the need for this class and remained open and flexible to everyone's needs, and changing needs through time.

So our class had its first gathering in January this year, its second in March and we just finished up our week retreat on June 12th.

Everything about this has been new and emerging: our learning, how we define ourselves and the larger systems in which we live.

So that brings me back to the original question. What is a leader? I think of my Girl Scout leaders, leading us to through trails in the woods. I didn't have to pay any attention to where we were going since the leader is all-knowing.

Now that I am recognized as a leader, my definition has changed, mostly from definitive answers into nebulous questions... who do I lead, where are we going and WHERE THE HECK IS MY MAP??

I have learned quite a bit during my training sessions. Perhaps most importantly, I have learned that leaders don't have to have the answers, we just need to (1) acknowledge that we don't have all and answers and (2) set up places into which answers can emerge.

To put it another way, I have come to learn that it's the process that matters. Of course the product is important, but if the process is given its due, the quality of product will necessarily follow.