I was reading this article called ‘10 Ways to Identify a Leader’ and this note about the “constructive spirit of discontent” has stayed with me for days.
Like returning to a favorite painting after viewing a collection, I keep coming back to reconsider these lines:
There’s a big difference in being constructively discontent and being critical.If somebody says, “There’s got to be a better way to do this,” I see if there’s leadership potential by asking, “Have you ever thought about what that better way might be?”
If he says yes, he’s challenged by a constructive spirit of discontent. That’s the unscratchable itch. It is always in the leader.
–Fred Smith, Leadership Journal. See: The National School Board Association’s list of 10 Qualities of a Leader
What I’m drawn to about this notion of constructive spirit of discontent is the illogical part: heart. The idea that a feeling can drive us.
Not just any feeling. Passion.
Passion that, sometimes, is born of discontent, from not wanting to be complacent anymore.
How do we, each of us, make something of this feeling? How do we truly capture and harness the gem of a beginning, and manifest it, so that we may build incredible things?
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