“Genuine poetry can communicate before it is understood.”
That comment comes from T.S. Eliot, the St. Louis-born banker turned poet. In his first career, he experienced the working life that so many of us labor in. In his second career, he discovered how to express what he observed in ways that challenged conventional thinking.
Writing about leadership in poetic form is hardly new. Homer told stories of hubris and lust, as well as of courage and patriotism, in his great works. Shakespeare, of course, wrote in verse. His histories profile the virtues and vices of kings and their struggles with power. More recently, David Whyte has created a genre of poetry about organizational life and leadership.
My new collection of poems – Leadership in Verse — is intended to provoke reflection about what leadership is and is not. Some poems and stories typify the ugliness we see around us. More, however, depict what it means to lead others in tough times. Leaders are those who apply what they know to help others succeed. They are not altruists per se; they are practical women and men who see their role as making a positive difference.
Here’s a poem that captures – sadly – the zeitgeist of our times.
Fire ‘em
“Now, they just fire ‘em,” he said.
“Used to provide severance. No more.
“They just cut ‘em, kinda like pro football.
“‘Cept they don’t get hurt at least on the outside.
“On the inside, it’s a different matter.
“Been working 10, 15 years, then out on their asses.
“That hurts. Some of them find work real fast.
“Others, not so fast.
“Regardless, they don’t bounce back so easy.
“They feel left out. And they are.
“None of them did anything to deserve it.
“They were good workers. Some of the best.
“Yeah, it’s different now.
“They just fire ‘em.”
Another focuses on the challenge of change – and how we interpret for ourselves.
Transformation
So often in movies
There is that moment when the hero.
Facing impossible odds
Suddenly decides to take action.
The camera pulls back.
As the music crescendos
Revealing the hero standing tall.
Hurrah!
We smile
Secretly hoping to hear that same music.
Poetry, too, can sum up what we feel about those who have inspired us.
Pastor
That is what he saw himself as.
And how he wanted the world to see him.
Not as regal, not as exalted, but as a shepherd
Tending souls, not sheep.
Souls who wanted counsel and guidance.
Not sheep who would sit in silence.
He was a shepherd who would seek out those.
Whom so many shunned.
Because they were different and
“Not like us.”
Understanding was his hallmark,
Mercy was his trademark.
He was one who ate in a dining hall.
Stood in line to get his own meals.
Sitting with others, not apart from them.
Sharing. Joking. Laughing.
His name was Francis.
Be specific
Poet Deborah Paredez, who teaches literature at Columbia, told me in an interview that “Poetry really does insist on the specificity even as it talks about grand themes, even though it might be about love or about disaster or something like that. The way it gets us to open our eyes to those things is by the very specific moment or the very sort of perfectly rendered metaphor.”
Poetry, by nature, works to get at the essence of meaning. It does so quickly and efficiently in ways that connect us to who we are and what we wish to become. In that way, poetry becomes a metaphor for leadership, creating connections, furthering understanding, and showing us a path forward.