RobertPruitt.Com | Blog

For the past year or two, I’ve been saying the product of leadership is relationships! It’s taken me the better part of 41 years of living to understand that healthy relationships are about understanding the other persons needs, emotions and weaknesses; sharing with them the same and then doing what it takes to help the other meet their needs without losing sight of your own.Leaders who possess a servant’s heart understand in order to dream about, create and sustain loving relationships they must pull the weeds that remove the minerals from the ground in which the flowers of love grow. What are some possible minerals absorbed by the weeds? Forgiveness, trust, creativity, authenticity, spirituality, fun, spontaneity, freedom, uniqueness, hope, optimism, openness, intimacy, focus, vision, fairness, honesty, loyalty, empathy, and even integrity. Leaders come to know that these weeds choke the life from the human flowers we desire to nurture. Pulling weeds is another way to say we get to let go of those things in our lives that choke the life out of our dreams and even prevent us from dreaming at all. I saw the move Australia tonight. There’s a scene where the main adult male character is attempting to control his experience of love by running from it. His female counterpart also attempts to control love by placing conditions on the man she loves and the little boys she wants to adopt. So, I was hit with an “ah ha” moment! I haven’t been dreaming about love in recent months! Like the main characters in the movie, I’ve been controlling my experience to prevent being hurt again and hurting someone else and being vulnerable and exposed to the uncertainties of relationships. Control and fear are my weeds. I allow them to invade my human garden. As a matter of fact, I’ve been water my weeds and give them more attention than the dream and hope of love! I can now recall a friend asking me about two months ago when I was I going to love again! WOW! So, there I was in a theater crying, looking at the screen and thinking about how I’ve stopped dreaming about building a loving relationship for myself. Hell! I’ve even had moments when I neglected to fully dream about creating a nurturing relationship with myself! I can’t recall the last time I had a clear thought about a singular loving relationship that I could nurture with dance, song, hope, laughter, kisses and hugs! A relationship that promotes life-what a novel idea! Now, I’m clear that I’ve been in “W.E.E.D. (Worry, Excuses, Exclusion, and Depression) Maintenance Mode” rather than “L.O.V.E. (Life, Optimism, Vulnerability, and Expression) Maintenance Mode.” Spending more time thinking about what love shouldn’t be and little time on what it could be!If I’m controlling my dream about love in my personal life, what impact does that have on my friendships, family, sons and those charged to my care? I get that what I do in one area of my life shows up in all. As a leader, I now have an opportunity to locate and remove the weeds that choke the life out of my relationships. Again, leadership is about building relationships and helping others take action on those things they say matter. So, how can I help others create and or live a vision of hope if weeds are choking the life out of their visions and dreams? Perhaps the difficulty in maintaining healthy relationships has everything to do with pulling weeds or not pulling them. Once they’re gone beautiful things emerge like new ideas, hopes, opportunities, relationships, realizations, dreams, vision and even blogs. Simply writing this entry helps the process of pulling weeds. Today, I’m making room for some beautiful and vibrant dreams to grow. And I invite you to look into your garden of relationships and locate the weeds. Here’s a tip! Get down on your knees so you are in a humble position to “see” your weeds. To many times, we stand “over” our relationships and rule them. Perhaps we need more “knee time” while pulling weeds and dreaming about love!This isn’t the truth-just a thought! I welcome yours!Share the gift you are with the world! (1Peter 4:10)

We are hours away from electing a new President and the air is thick with anticipation, eagerness, excitement, concern, cautious optimism and prayer. Go back a few months and the question posed was is McCain ready? Is Obama experienced enough? While I agree that our Presidential Candidates should posses some understanding of our military, economy, health-care, global and domestic relations and posses the ability to reach “across the isle” to create bi-partisan agreements I also think the Presidency is an “on the job” experience with an incredible learning curve. So, who is really ready to answer the call to become a President when they first enter office? I think both John McCain and Barack Obama are answering such a call. Additionally, I am clear they both possess strengths and weaknesses which can support voting for or against either! In a recent Time Magazine Article “temperament” was a criteria worth considering when selecting a President. Perhaps, the notion that a candidate is ready is truly subjective. For example, what if we all agreed that candidate “X” is the best prepared (ready) to lead our country and after one or two months or years in office it’s clear we are wrong. Did our criteria or rationale for selecting someone who is “ready” or “experienced” lead us astray? Nixon was for many the right man however, his character and integrity were called into question. Clinton wasn’t supposed to be the right person to answer the call. However, lower, middle and upper class fared well for several years. And we know his character and integrity were called into question. So, what makes us the voters so certain we know who is suited to “answer the call?” Were they infact the “right” people to answer the call? What made Mother Teresa, Gandhi, Eleanor Roosevelt or Moses the right people to answer their calls? Perhaps, there are occasions when we say someone’s not ready because we’ve overlooked their skills, abilities and experiences? Maybe we’re looking for a reason to discount them? Maybe someone told us we aren’t ready to answer the call in our lives and we knowingly or unknowingly project that message onto another? Clearly there are times when we are right. Some people aren’t ready to answer the call and need to let the phone ring or let someone else answer? But there lies the rub! If the phone rings and YOU don’t pick it up and nobody else wants to “answer the call” when does change occur? When do we stand on the courage of our convictions? When do we take a stand? When do we become the change we want to see in our world? Both candidates want and are committed to creating change! I applaud them for picking up the phone. I applaud their V.P. choices for picking up their phones. I wonder how many of us would be willing to put our butts out for the whole of America to smack with wet towels of insolence, insult, indifference, ignorance and fear? When was the last time you answered the call to make a difference or “step up” and you were fully supported? All were in agreement with you? And all had kind and nurturing words of encouragement? This fear of isolation and retribution is evident in the conversations I have with teachers, students, law enforcement and those who either answer the call or are fearful of taking such a call. Just for a moment, I invite human-beings in general, Americans in particular to suspend our political position and ask ourselves, if I had to serve me how would I feel? What would I think about myself? Am I ready to answer the call to lead my family, to speak out against injustices in the workplace, to speak out for the voiceless, to speak truth to power in my church, community, government? After answering these questions with humility reconnect and reexamine our subjective criteria for those who dare to “answer the call!” Then ask how can I serve those who do step up and out on faith?

Not a truth-Just a thought! I welcome yours!

“Share the gift you are with the world!”