My friend and neighbor Donna Zajonc is a Political Leadership Coach and the author of The Politics of Hope: Reviving the Dream of Democracy, a book I can’t recommend highly enough. She reminded me this morning, through her monthly newsletter, that there is another path besides blame. (See my entry below On Bullshit and Anger for a fiery example of Blame). Donna wrote:

“Hurricane Katrina has become our new national 9/11. Never did Americans believe we would be attacked on our soil nor did we believe we would ever experience a natural disaster that would leave hundreds of thousands of our citizens stranded and our local, state and national emergency systems unable to effectively respond. While controversy swirls over the rescue attempts, I believe a larger question must be asked. What kind of political leadership and philosophy is essential to lead us through such complex and polarizing times?”

I would add to that – “What kind of leadership do each we need to offer during this time?”

As Donna reminds us, many branches of science have proven how deeply we are all interconnected. When we live and choose with this interconnectedness as the ground of our being, new possibilities can emerge. “Katrina, in her devastation, has shown us how our lifestyle and culture are interconnected in ways we have taken for granted. This interconnectedness may take the form of increased carbon emissions and global climate change that may warm the Atlantic Ocean and Gulf waters, thereby increasing the frequency and intensity of hurricanes. Or, it may take the form of economic rip tides resulting from vast sums of money and resources being taken from other projects in order to rebuild and care for the refugees.”

Donna has outlined an evolutionary model called the Four Stages of Political Leadership. “The first Stage is the classical definition of Anarchy—those who just want to tear down and destroy. Stage Two are traditional leaders, which have led our country for over two hundred years, organize into groups or teams and look toward one heroic leader to save the day. Traditionalists look at the “parts and pieces” of an issue. Stage Two systems and leaders are ill prepared to respond to a system collapse. When chaos and calamity hit, the “parts and pieces” approach quickly unravels. Catastrophic natural events leave Stage Two leaders wondering, “Who is the enemy?” When an enemy is not apparent, they create one by initiating the “blame game. Stage Two want to avoid the appearance of a system collapse (or may deny the collapse altogether) and resort to twisting the facts, manipulating the message and spinning the truth about current reality.”

What if, as Donna hopes, the more Stage Two collapses, the more the interconnectedness of all things will be revealed, leading us out of our political depression and resignation, and in to Stage Four: where leaders (which include all of us) consider how we can match our greatest gifts to the world’s greatest needs.

“The new Stage Four Politics of Hope leaders cultivate hope instead of anger. They speak honestly about our current reality. They reject the politics of ‘parts and pieces,’ planning and acting collaboratively with the whole system in view. They will help us understand our environmental, social, economical, cultural and spiritual connectedness while encouraging all Americans to reach out and support our fellow citizens.”

Please visit http://www.politicsofhope.com/