It's Shared Leadership, Stupid!

I live in a world which is forever talking about, and pushing, "teamwork".  My experience of teamwork is not an overall positive one.  As a matter of fact, when I hear the word 'team', I shudder and hide.  Reading Pope Francis more intently following his death, I have become aware that what really matters is shared leadership, not teamwork.  Simply put, we are using the wrong word.  Push rather "shared leadership". 

As I see our world, and as I believe Pope Francis saw it, the leadership desired for a healthy future is held in the hands of all people, at the grassroots.  As the terminology says, it is better "to go from the bottom up, than from the top down".  

The basic truth is that our world power elites, acting from the top down, are failing us.  Their performance tells us they are either not fit for purpose or are focused on power grabs and self-aggrandisement, neither of which fits the category of responsible leadership for a healthy world. I see this unhealthy application of power applying at every level, in society and church, not just at the upper levels.   

I believe that the Charter of the UN begins with - "We the peoples of the world" - and not "We the governments of the world".  Our world is a complex, multi-layered reality.  In the words of Pope Francis, it is a poly-crisis world.  Surely then, it is beyond the scope of the few to deal fairly and adequately with the running of our world, which is just too challenging and precious.  This may be being kind as leadership may simply be an expression of human greed and selfishness, and I see this once again as possible at every level of society and church.    

The world is ours.  This is our shared and common home.  It is entrusted to all of us, not to a select few to rule and enjoy. So power is a shared responsibility, belonging to all.  We all have our power, which is shared for the good of all.  This brings us back to where I started.  The best leadership model for a healthy future is one allowing the grassroots to exercise their rightful power, this meaning shared leadership. 

My experience tells me that teamwork has become a euphemism for so much unwanted baggage.  It can become a clever leverage for individuals or select groups to grab and exercise power, for their own, whatever purpose.  In the church, it may be a cover for clericalism, the basic evil within the church, named by Francis, who offered us an alternative model, shared leadership.   

Pope Francis encapsulated his model of leadership for a healthy world and church within a process, named Synodality.  I wonder why many still do not grasp it or get it?  Do they want to?  Don't they understand - It is shared leadership, stupid!