The opposite of leadership isn’t followership; it’s apathy, indifference, and laziness.
We can all become “Level 5 leaders.”
Liberatus turns eight this week, and as its founder, the journey I am inviting people into as we look ahead is to become the leaders who make our country more just and free for the next generation.
Wise leadership is the reason why we create inspiration for American unity through illustrated journals or large format magazines, and why our goal is biannual publication. Our contributors who represent the entire political spectrum created a beautiful work of art in Volume One, and when we understand how to choose unity and have inspiration for that long journey, we begin to understand how to use power wisely, for the good of people, without abusing it. Learning how to use power wisely is a life-long pursuit, and Liberatus is a home for all of us to become what Jim Collins calls Level 5 leaders.
Looking at my notes from Good to Great on my phone, a level 5 leader is someone who finds a way to blend personal humility and professional will. It’s leaders like Abraham Lincoln — and I would add leaders like Benjamin Franklin and Harriet Tubman — who have demonstrated what it means to be more than a hack and a commentator and an activist.
The opposite of leadership isn’t followership, because leadership is service, and the opposite of service is apathy, indifference, and laziness. A level 5 leader doesn’t wait for something external to appear exciting to decide to get involved. Real leaders see and experience the problems around them fully and find their purpose when they decide to do something about it. Level 5 leaders are mature beyond attaching themselves to leaders who display “charisma and expertise,” which as Diane Langberg has described, gives power away to abusive leaders. Becoming a level 5 leader means having one’s own rich inner life and purpose — and choosing to cultivate it and commit to it.
As someone who has been involved in American politics since 2004, I know from experience that now more than ever we need Americans — and particularly millennials and people of faith — to organize in a new way, not rooted in anxiety or someone else’s charisma or expertise but rather in a deep awareness of one’s calling and purpose. We are all experts in how the world around us is working and moving, and unity or healing means we start where we are. Starting where we are can take any form, because the call to follow Christ is first about our inner life. What’s beautiful about the love of God is that we get to make many choices about how we will live and what we will create, and we have the Spirit of God to guide us as we learn to live as people who are free in any context.
My hope is to build a team of leaders who understand their own purpose in life, and to continue creating inspiration for American unity for our community of supporters across the country, as they work to make our country stronger in their unique life context. Our team of leaders will include everyone from board members to writers to ambassadors who build community all over the country. Liberatus is a way to strengthen the leadership abilities of those who wish to be involved, and by building a team of leaders, we can build a sustainable and lasting organization. We will continue to build a new way of participating in American self-governance creatively, not through a program or conference or seminar, and we will do so with a deep and fresh perspective as articulated in our values and philosophy, and any future revisions to these that we make. And we will continue funding partner organizations who are working to make our country stronger — I can’t wait to reach sustainability, and contribute thousands of dollars to the mission success of Border Perspective and Refuge Coffee Co., and add more partners across the US.
Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, and Harriet Tubman are leaders who in many ways represent the ethos and values of Liberatus and what we will create, from their calls to become a union, to save and heal the union, and to create a more perfect union — even when physical endurance and risk are required.
They are level 5 leaders because they blended personal humility with professional will for a mission that was bigger than themselves, their charisma, their expertise, or their personal brands. Their results speak for themselves. As Americans they give us strong examples of what it means to self-govern wisely — and that will continue to take endurance and risk.
As Christians, we know that personal humility means dependence on the Spirit of God for guidance, and the Spirit of God guides us to become more like Christ. Following Christ first means knowing the love of God, and when we understand that we were loved first, we can create whatever we want out of love to make the world around us more just and free.
The invitation to be part of Liberatus isn’t to control politics; it’s to create out of love wherever we are because of the love that God has for us. For the sake of clarity about the context in which we operate, our projected income for the year is $2,100, but I am committed to moving forward and stretching the resources we have in order to create out of love. If you’d like to be part of this mission to inspire American unity, you can apply to join the leadership council, fund our work, or get a copy of Volume One at LiberatusDC.org. You can also read a refreshed vision overview here. Peace be with you!
Caleb Paxton is a former Republican congressional staffer and the founder of Liberatus, a nonprofit with a mission to inspire American unity. He has worked and volunteered for right-leaning campaigns and causes in Ohio, South Carolina, Florida, Louisiana, Texas, Colorado, Georgia, Virginia, and Pennsylvania. He’s also worked at the so-called bottom of the American economy, giving over 1,000 Uber rides and shopping for more than 1,000 grocery delivery customers to cover expenses while running Liberatus — and while running marathon or ultramarathon distances 22 times. If you’d like to fund the mission of Liberatus and the people behind it, you can do so at LiberatusDC.org.
