C.S. Lewis & The Imaginative Leader
Why Being Yourself is So Important
C.S. Lewis warns leaders not to be someone they are not. Imaginative leadership springs from men and women who understand the power of 'being yourself.'
As leaders, we can easily overdevelop our praxis and undervalue our selves. “Who am I?” however, proves infinitely more important than “How do I …?” If I am comfortable in my role as my self, then I will not pattern myself after the popular leader paradigm.
Instead, I will work in the confidence of my “baptized imagination,” a phrase C.S. Lewis used to describe his imagination after his conversion to Christianity. Through the lens of his new-found faith, Lewis saw the world anew. And it was from that baptized imagination that great original works poured forth. Lewis said it was when he stopped striving to be a famous poet and started writing from a place of pure imaginative wonder that his work found success.
It is in the great works of The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, The Screwtape Letters, Perelandra, and Till We Have Faces that we find Lewis writing from a place of pure delight, an author comfortable in his own skin.
On Dec. 14, 1944, Lewis gave the annual Commemoration Oration at King’s College, University of London. Lewis advised students to eschew the ambition to be in the “Inner Ring,” that exclusive circle of folks representing social and professional success.
Lewis warned that the lust for the “delicious sense of secret intimacy” will not satisfy. Eventually, we will move on, desiring yet another “Inner Ring.”
He instead urged his audience of young students to become craftsmen, to put their heads down and concentrate on what they did best. The craftsman should surround himself with like-minded craftsmen, each given to the work as the final goal.
In doing so, the craftsman finds distinction among other craftsmen, the only circle that matters.
The Tempest and The Bloom
Don’t miss out on the next instalment of my fantasy novel, The Tempest and The Bloom. This growing community of readers is engaged and having some fun tracking the epic adventure of WILL TAYLOR and the mysterious young women simply named AYLIN. Part 4 is on its way this week. Sign up and join us on the odyssey!
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