Animal Farm and Modern Leadership
Even though I read Animal Farm by George Orwell over 30 years ago, it still haunts me. And, at the oddest times, scenes from Animal Farm invade my thinking. Does that happen to anyone else besides me?!?
In the StarTribune Opinions Exchange on April 5th, David Lebedoff, author of The Same Man: George Orwell & Evelyn Waugh in Love and War,writes about the Orwell’s predictions of economic collapse based on moral failure.
Lebedoff asserts that the Modern Age (which he detested) has a major distinguishing factor that separates 21st Century people from all previous ages-people no longer believe in life after death. Even though Orwell was an atheist, he asserted that this long-term-view-of-life worldview impacted people’s immediate decisions. It caused many to stop and reflect on their actions… from a moral sense.
In the Modern Age, without this long-term-view-of-life guidance, human’s are more prone to live for today. A reigning thought process might be “Eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we may die.” In the article, Lebeoff says, “If you go around once, then the main thing is to have fun.” He goes on to state, “Materialism, hedonism and Stairmasters are what people do until the clock stops ticking.”
So, what does this have to do with our life as president, CEOs, owners and sales leaders? Earlier this week, we looked at Zenger and Folkman’s research published in The Extraordinary Leader. Character is foundational for the leader. Without character as the center of a leaders life; the trust needed to lead people through tumultuous times will be missing. And, as leaders in today’s economic climate, we need trust, or we’ll be one of the many business statistics.
How does your worldview effect how you lead? How might a long-term-view-of-life worldview impact your leadership?