New book offers heroic leadership techniques for individuals and organizations
In Building Without Tearing Down, Chad Ellsworth reveals how important it is to cultivate positive ways to start people in our organizations and then help them become true leaders by cultivating the heroic arts.
Ellsworth’s interest in heroic leadership began when he joined a fraternity in college and experienced hazing. He then promised himself that he would work to end hazing in his fraternity; when that didn’t pan out, as he shares on these pages, he committed to doing it at a higher level. Today, he works to make organizations of all kinds and levels aware that we do not help our organizations or the people involved in them to be better and stronger when we use techniques that humiliate or belittle the people who integrate them.
After sharing his own personal hazing story in Build Not Tear Down, Ellsworth asks all of us to speak up when we see what’s wrong with our organizations and to help cultivate the Heroic Arts in ourselves and others. Drawing on the work of mythologist Joseph Campbell, Ellsworth asks us to begin our own personal hero journeys. He points out that change in an organization has to start with the individual, quoting Gandhi’s famous phrase “Be the change you wish to see in the world.” As Joseph Campbell describes among the key elements of any hero’s journey, the hero must first learn something about himself and then return with his new knowledge to share with others. Ellsworth tells us how to take that heroic journey for ourselves so that we are stronger, wiser, and better equipped to lead ourselves first, and others second, in creating improvements and a better experience within our organizations. In the process, we will discover, as Aristotle said, that “where your talents and the needs of the world intersect, your calling is found.”
Build Without Tear Down is divided into five parts: Get Out of Hazing, Challenge the Status Quo, Apply the Heroic Arts, Confront the Forces Against You, and Change Your World. Each part is then divided into several chapters. For example, Part IV: Facing the Forces Against You, is divided into chapters on how to face your enemies, face your fears, fall flat on your face, decide to get up, and break through. Ellsworth walks us through each step or process on the journey to becoming heroes in our own lives. Each chapter also contains exercises with thoughtful, action-oriented questions so you can develop and apply the skills you learn.
I could say a lot about each section of this book, but here I will only mention a few highlights. One thing about Building Without Tearing Down that really interested me was the experiences of the Ellsworth fraternity. Having never belonged to a fraternity, I always thought that the purpose of fraternities and sororities was just friendship and lots of partying, but Ellsworth shares with us that these organizations were founded to make their members better people and to help society. usually. He says the original founders of the fraternities “believed that if the idea caught on, it would create a lasting movement that would feed the hungry, clothe the poor, and bring comfort and medicine to the sick, all while providing life-changing services.” “. experiences to people within the movement.” Unfortunately, hazing is a sign that many of these organizations have strayed from that ideal, but Ellsworth is working to change that, and we can all do the same, whether it’s a fraternity to the that we belong to or a corporation, church, social club, or any other type of organization.
The call to be a hero is not easy. It’s scary indeed, but Ellsworth reminds us that all heroes are human and we can find solace in their less than flattering moments. For example, he shares with us how during the Civil Rights Movement, Martin Luther King, Jr. almost gave up and was afraid of appearing weak and cowardly to his followers. Ellsworth also shows us how we don’t have to be visible powerful leaders to affect change. He shares as an example how Ronald Reagan’s request to tear down the Berlin Wall achieved nothing, but when ordinary people decided that they were going to go through the gates of the wall, even though they were told they would be killed, they came together and finally exercised the social pressure that caused the fall of the wall.
Throughout the book, Ellsworth offers some wonderful inspirational quotes. A very appropriate one for the Berlin Wall situation that includes is from JRR Tolkien: “Some people believe that only great power can contain evil. But that is not what I have found. I have discovered that it is the small things, everyday events of ordinary people keeping the darkness at bay. Simple acts of kindness and love.” Another quote that emphasizes our mutual connection and influence is from Martin Luther King, Jr. “We are all…bound in one garment of destiny…I can never be what I am meant to be until you are what you want to be.” should be. And you can never be what you should be until I am what I should be.
Ellsworth argues that not only can each of us be a hero, but the world needs each of us to be a hero, citing the story of a sweatshirt he recently received that features over ninety different superheroes. He loves the shirt because it reminds him that “the challenges facing our world are far greater than any one superhero can solve. We need a collection of superheroes from countless backgrounds with countless different strengths to meet the challenges facing our world.” In other words, we can’t wait for someone with Superman or Wonder Woman abilities to save us. Each of us must do our part to make this world a better place.
You may not know what your part is yet, but if you want to improve your life, your organization, and your world, reading Building Without Tearing Down is a great place to start, and after that, the sky may be the limit. .
