Blossom of Chaos
The seed does not grow from order
The seed it grows from chaos
The decay of life
The fungi of nature
The desolation of creatures large and small
The tree does not drink from purity
It struggles and strives to drink from the depth of death itself
stretching its roots through the filth of the land
digging and spreading till its thirst complete
until the tree itself fall to decay and death
Yet though the years its blossoms bloom
its limbs give life to nature
no the seed does not grow from order
the seed grows from chaos
and the world is better for it
~Taillefer~
The Chaotic View of Leaders (My thoughts on Leadership)
Leadership is often seen as bringing order to chaos, yet we live in a universe that makes order imposable. as the universe is continuously expanding all forms of life , all structures, including us, slowly but surely breakdown. Yet we still fight for order! The second law of thermodynamics explains that ordered things like structures, people animals all have low entropy or low levels of chaos, as they breakdown they then have high entropy or high levels of chaos. This will continue until there are no molecule left. please enjoy this short video explaining the second law of thermodynamics.
Now that Dr. Brian Cox has so brilliantly explained the second law of thermodynamics, the only question left is: What does this have to do with leadership?
We as a species are obsessed with order, we should be obsessed with achievement in chaos. there will never be a perfect time, a perfect organization, a perfect team, we can however, achieve our best in every situation. As leaders it is not our job to bring order, it is our job to help the team achieve its best while utilizing all components of the team. We must help each person and each team member preform to their best and recognize them for their efforts.
Please enjoy This short video on Social Work and Leadership
Corbitt, B. (2021). Social Work Leadership: From colleague to mentor to friend. New Social Worker 28(1). 26-27.
Sullivan, P. W. (2015). Leadership in Social Work: where are we? Journal of Social Work Education. (52)51 551-561. Doi: 10.1080/10437797.2016.1174644.
Competency
Competency is vital to our profession a s social workers. it is not enough that we want to help we need to help in an effective manner. Going back to the idea of chaos leadership, we as social workers tend to meet people at their worst, in the midst of crisis and chaos, in order to inspire them we must not add to the chaos. We must help them find that moment of hope in the situation they are in. We do this by understanding and living by the core values of the social work profession:
1.Service
Placing the needs of others above our own self interests.
2. Social Justice
Working on behalf of vulnerable population and challenging systems that promote inequality and oppression.
3. Dignity and Worth of a Person
recognizing that all people have value and being mindful of diversity.
4. The Importance of Human Relationships
It is though relationships that change occurs.
5. Integrity
acting with honest intent and with application of the code of ethics.
6. Competence
Practicing within your field of knowledge with earnest desire to continue to learn and grow.
If you are unfamiliar with the social work code of Ethics I encourage you to read them. https://www.socialworkers.org/About/Ethics/Code-of-Ethics/Code-of-Ethics-English.
Perspectives on Hope
Being intent intentional about hope is vital to our success a leaders in chaos. Take a look at the mood elevator with the understanding that the lower we are the less hope we have and the less hope we can inspire.
Notice the lowest level is depression. The highest is grateful, I argue that the elevator is powered by hope. the more hope we have the higher we go and if we have enough hope we can help power other elevators. This is an interictal aspect of my own education and has helped me understand how eternal hope has an impact on those around us.
It can be difficult sometimes to step away from the chaos and recognize our own inner peace. We sometimes get in our own way. Blocking hope from shining though. When we do this we fail to inspire others and we fail to inspire ourselves. So how do we regain leadership of ourselves. take three intention breath and assume positive intent. The world is chaotic and the people around us are doing the best they can and we need to give the credit for their accomplishment by assuming positive intent. Enjoy this video on Positive intent:
Five Components of emotional Intelligence
Daniel Golman wrote about the five components of emotional intelligence namely: Selfawareness, Self-regulation, Motivation, Empathy and Social skill. In the spirit of full disclosure I feel compelled to disclose that I am a fragile being. while I strive for excellence I am marred by a history of failures. These failures have all come because of lack of self-regulation.
I did not always appreciate my life and I did not always find solace in my own chaotic world, I found solace in Achohal. I was unable to self-regulate, I was consumed by my addiction it controlled my every hour and drove me to the depths of insanity. With my love for alcohol overpowering another I was unable to attain any other of the five components of emotional intelligence. I was an emotional amoeba. I was not a leader in Chaos I was chaos. I thank God everyday for the stroke that brought me my life back.
John Christensen