Canoe Maps

A bit of advice given to a young

Native American at the time of his initiation:

As you go the way of life, you will see a great chasm.

Jump. It is not as wide as you think.

                                                            ~ Joseph Campbell

Being responsible sometimes means pissing people off.

                                                 ~ Colin Powell

It is a curious thing, Harry [Potter], but perhaps those who are

best suited to power are those who have never sought it . . .

We're all human, aren't we? Every human life

is worth the same, and worth saving.

                                              ~ J.K.Rowling

Anyone who canoes in the BWCA Quetico-Superior Wilderness Area has had the experience of portaging into the next lake – and scanning the opposite shore to discern where the next portage might be. And faced the confusion of water stretching before them in an unfamiliar lake strewn with islands, bays, and inlets.  Out come the canoe maps!

Canoe maps for this beautiful country are not like those street and road maps we stuff into crowded glove-compartments in our cars. Canoe maps are sturdy, waterproof all-weather maps. Depending on the area represented, they often indicate no roads. Just myriads of lakes dotting the North Woods of Minnesota and Canada’s Ontario Province.

Native people and the first white explorers of this wilderness - and the far reaches of Canada’s Northwest Territories and Nunavut - had no such maps. They navigated by the stars,compasses that could be unreliable because of the magnetic quantities of the rocky country, or by hit-and-miss methods. Sometimes they would have to backtrack when the chosen route became impassable. Oral history passed on from generation to generation was another way to choose which route to take – or to avoid.

Gradually, the canoe maps we know today were meticulously created. These maps have become an essential part of the gear a person packs before venturing into what was once uncharted land. Too bad we don’t have dependable canoe maps to navigate today’s complex world!

Fifty years ago, three very different leaders led us into uncharted waters - and changed the course of history. Each of them ventured into unfamiliar territory without the benefit of canoe maps to find their way. At the end of August 1963, Martin Louis King Jr. gave his I Had  Dream speech from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. A few months later, President Kennedy was assassinated. And Nelson Mandela was sentenced to life in prison and transferred to Robben Island. 

The chaos of the 1960’s stemmed from overly conformist societies of the previous decade. As people lurched forward to more egalitarian ways of living with each other, the call for cultural change was a principle driver. The charismatic voices of King and Kennedy, and later Mandela, inspired people to take action.

Cultural anthropologists speculate about how people of pre-history survived in the hostile environments that they roamed. These peoples' very lives depended on cohesiveness of their clan or family group because surviving alone in the wilderness was unlikely. Being outside the norm probably meant being ostracized or exiled from the group. 

What I find particularly interesting about this theorizing is the idea that being seen as an exceptional person could be as damaging to the clan or family as not carrying one’s weight. Being more powerful or more skilled than others could arouse envy and create struggles for power.

Valued qualities for these early people were not about being visionary, strong-minded, or powerful. Conformity to group norms was probably the most desired quality. Martin Luther King, John Kennedy, and Nelson Mandela would not have fared well in these early times! They probably would have been seen as dangerous - and been banished from their family or clan group.

Each of these three contemporary leaders had a dream that went far beyond insuring survival within  a tight circle of conformity. Each of them envisioned how to make the world a better place. They embodied the courage to forge ahead into uncharted place - without the benefit of meticulously drawn maps.

But the crucial question in 2014 is what kind of leadership is called for today. Certainly not the conformity thought to be characteristic of pre-historic cultures. And perhaps not the style of leadership of these three very different men.

Mandela, King, and Kennedy embodied an illusive quality. They had the courage to stand outside their particular cultural context. Mandela, during his years in solitary confinement, reversed his early beliefs about how to make change happen. Kennedy, who had wealth beyond imagining, could have pursued pleasure or become a high financier. King, a black preacher from the heavily racist South, burned with the inequities of social justice.

Each of their leadership styles was vastly from the conformity valued by pre-history’s people. In the last fifty years, issues no longer were about the physical survival of one’s social group, but about interlocking connections among diverse groups. The world has continued on after their respective deaths – but at the same time, the world was changed forever.

Does leadership evolve over time?  Although we can learn from history, hat worked at various of periods does not give an enduring pattern for leadership that works. The question is what is needed today - now? Nostalgic emulation of these three men does not answer the question of what kind of leadership is called for today.

Edward Snowden’s actions have generated much strong discussion. For some, he is a traitor – pure and simple. For others, he is a hero - because his actions have been the impetus for critical discussions about the limits of privacy and the security of our country. I had to laugh a couple days ago at the headline for an article, which asked if NSA was spying on members of Congress. While I'm wondering about the degree I am tracked by retailors, who have me profiled down to my little toe.

Does Snowden represent a new form of leadership? Or is it John Boehner herding cats – the three disparate groups within the GOP party? What about Wall Street brokers – is this a new form of economic leadership? Is leadership about being the head of a tech company, providing new products that dazzle and seduce us? 

Does Pope Francis' mild manner that contrasts with his decisive actions convey a counter-cultural vision for the world? Should we look to Angela Merkel's steady hand during Europe's financial crisis, honed by growing up under the repressive rule of East Germany? None of these leaders has the rhetorical gifts of  a Kennedy, King, or Mandela.

Or does our hope lie with all of the ordinary people who never make the news, while they look out for a neighbor or volunteer at their local food shelves? Or the small groups of people around the world who see a problem in their community and take action to address it?

If I could answer this basic question about what kind of leadership is called for today, I would be regarded as a great visionary. But I can’t – and neither can any of us. Whatever thrust King, Kennedy, or Mandela into their respective leadership roles was as much about demands from their culture fifty years ago than it was about any extraordinary gifts they had.  

Perhaps leadership simply is being in the right place at the right time coupled the willingness to do what is needed. With or without of canoe maps!

My hope for 2014 is that whoever is needed will emerge - – and teach all of us about being leaders today. And I have a set of well-used canoe maps I would gladly give to anyone contemplating their place in uncharted territory!