"To be a subject of Great Britain, with all its consequences, is to be the freest member of any civil society in the known world.”
This is King George III speaking to the British Parliament in regard to the American colonist . . . . just before the American Revolutionary war.
People in power often feel that they are running open and beneficial systems. Often times leaders do not fully understand the constructs that others are asked to live under that they themselves do not seem subject to. In King George's case, he made a very factual statement, but missed the point entirely. It is not about the ability to live under a fairly free system, but the ability to design and build a system of your own, that works for the goals and dreams of the people it represents.
Hang with me now - I think this is the essence of what must happen for us to move forward in reaching students of all kinds in the US and all over the world. Good leadership must be freed up to build independent constructs (or not) to get the job done in various student categories. For 50+ years we have tried to do it all under the umbrella of the 'white middle class way' - and lets face it, it simply has not worked.
However, the Impact Movement and the Korean version of Crusade have found fertile new ground in the US by playing by rules that they themselves have created. Impact has gone from 30 movements 3 years ago, to well over 140 now (Impact was stuck at under 30 for the first 10 years of its existence under the USCM). KCCC (the Koreans) entered the US with a special dispensation from Dr. Bright to do whatever they wanted. When I first heard about this, it really trouble me (since I was to be leading the charge in this area). But, it turns out they are doing fine (shocker) - in fact, we would love to have the success they are having (no recent numbers, but they will have over 2,000 students at their conference in LA - with about 40 total staff).
Leadership in both of these student groups would be quick to tell you that everything is not perfect, but their problems are their problems to solve - and they are capable of doing it.
So here is the axiom: Good leaders, with freedom, accomplish great things.
