The name selected was "The Dream Weavers", The reason given for the name was that the songs they wrote were dreamy and they were therefore, weavers of dreams . . .
As a young band director, we would load the five buses with 185 instrumentalists and head to the stadium for an after-school football game. Did I say that I was the ONLY adult involved? Okay, I was a 22 year old adult, but, nevertheless . . . not a kid.
Nine years later, at my last teaching job, there were 124 students and four buses with a Registered Nurse on each bus, four briefcases containing signed releases from each student's parents in the event that they needed medical care, and four more briefcases on each vehicle with additional information regarding their prescription drugs. Finally, we also employed four assistants and recruited parent chaperones on each vehicle as well.
During those ten years, the restrictions and the rules became more onerous. I distinctly remember when we teachers were advised not to encourage the students with a pat on the back, a touch on the arm, a reassuring hug, or anything that could be considered in any way human. That was during the decade from 1969 to 1979, and life changed dramatically for the students and their teachers as they searched for verbal substitutions to replace these signs of supportive affection. I left teaching that year.
My career in hospital administration has ranged from 1988 to the present. As you might have guessed, our involvement with attorneys and regulators has grown exponentially, too. In fact, our annual legal fees usually are equal to the annual payments necessary on a major piece of diagnostic equipment; nearly the same as our heating bill. The most difficult thing that these specialists bring to my life is their comprehensive knowledge of every possible nuance of the law and the potential implications and ramifications of each of these potential legal wrinkles, the why nots.
As the science of leadership is analyzed, as the structure of Windber Medical Center, Windber Research Institute, The Joyce Murtha Breast Center and HealthStyles, The Ornish Program, et al are dissected, not unlike a symphony, what will be revealed is not the power of analytical interpretation, but that of intuition, of humanness, of the expression of true kindness, and of inspiration.
It wasn't the business plans, the financial experts, or the building analyzers that brought these ideas to life; to this hill of dreams. It will not be the science of business that will be revealed, nor the quantitative rationalizations of gantt charts, algorithms, or financial plans. It will be the revelation that people truly want to be treated like human beings; that they are looking for hope, for dignity, for respect, for comfort, and for unquestioning, unequivocal love.
We are surrounded by things that can hurt us, can discourage us, and can stop us. What we are not surrounded with is encouragement, belief, trust, and, many times, those willing to take a risk with us. Leadership is most often lonely, and usually discouraging, but persistence, inner strength, and the creation of excitement through the pursuit of dreams is the key.
Let the legal minds dictate the nuances of the law, the potential ramifications of interpretation, the subtleties of risk. Let the accountants dictate the numbers, and let the planners plan and plan. Let the detailers detail, and the management experts suggest. Their work does not create the future.
Intuition and sensitivity will help us reach our dreams.
Love the dreamers, for they are at risk of extinction. Embrace the creatives because they will always be the dream weavers.
Remember that science comes from science fiction, that excitement comes from ideas, that leadership involves risk, and risk creates excitement.
If you are not about risk and dreams, then you are not about leadership.
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