Journal of Sacred Work

Caregivers have superpowers! Radical Loving Care illuminates the divine truth that caregiving is not just a job. It is Sacred Work.

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Former President & CEO of multiple hospital systems and founding president & CEO of 20-hospital OhioHealth, best selling author, film artist, ordained minister, composer, published poet, syndicated T.V. host, trial attorney, federal prosecutor and Municipal Court Judge. Erie is internationally known as the founder of the Radical Loving Care(R)movement. He also heads Erie Chapman Foundation, Dane Dakota Productions, LLC, and Chapman Health International, Inc.

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Days 32-36 – Called to Lead – The Power of the Prism

February 1, 2016

Pour white light into a prism at the right angle & watch it disclose its coat of many colors. Send white light into a wall of granite and nothing emerges from the other side.

When God's light shines, even violence cannot disturb the creation of a rainbow. That was true when light passed through the prism of Jesus' body.

And consider another story about a boy whose father whipped him regularly until he was fifteen. That father told a friend, "I'll make something of him even if I have to beat him to death." At age twelve, the same boy had jumped out of a second floor window because he felt responsible for his grandmother's death.

Fortunately, Martin Luther King, Jr. survived to become one of the greatest leaders of the twentieth century.

When do we know whether we are called to lead? Did Lincoln know when he was still a child chopping wood outside his tiny Kentucky birthplace? Did Florence Nightingale know when as a small girl playing with dolls?

Robert K. Greenleaf wrote that, "It begins with the natural feeling that one wants to serve, to serve first. Then the conscious choice brings one to aspire to lead."

There is long-running problem with leadership in healthcare. It comes from the fact that many nurses & doctors are pulled into leadership jobs they cannot do well.

Great doctors do not automatically make great leaders. Professional schools do not train for leadership. Nurses & doctors seek to heal people, not to lead them.

The skills needed for great leadership are drastically different from those needed to become a neonatal intensive care nurse or a cardiac surgeon. Medical professionals need to be detectives to diagnose cancer & precision performers to bypass blocked arteries. What does taking charge of a patient's illness have to do with taking charge of a hundred people? Leaders need to be big picture visionaries who chart courses dozens or thousands. They need to know how to inspire teams to peak performance.

Would you want a business executive to repair your broken leg? What qualifies an orthopedic surgeon to oversee the complex operations of a modern hospital?

Fortunately, some nurses & physicians have "that natural feeling" to serve & make "the conscious choice…to aspire to lead." Tragically, there are many others who were never meant to lead in the life-saving milieu of healthcare organizations.

We are mediums for God's love. Pour white light into the heart of a called leader & a rainbow appears. Spray white light through the heart of a true caregiver & a different rainbow emerges.

Beauty needs the right prism.

-Erie Chapman

Note: The Seven Powers of Radical Loving Leaders is available from Amazon or as an e-book on Kindle & other e-readers.

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7 responses to “Days 32-36 – Called to Lead – The Power of the Prism”

Terry

February 1, 2016

Light from God, moving through a prism yields a “coat of many colors” and can also be compared to that same light yielding assorted but widely ranging gifts of special abilities and attributes to all of us. One will teach superbly; another will raise sheep expertly; and a third will simply bring members of his wider family all together for occasional family reunions. But the message is clear and so reassuring! All of us have a calling and a vocation, only sometimes found in the paid work we do. Strive to find that calling-something you do very well and enjoy doing and you are on the straight path to finding your life’s work.

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Erie Chapman Foundation

February 1, 2016

What a great comment, Terry. Yes, it is so critical to value every color in the spectrum, every gift each of us has and every pathway or honest work. So many, out of other necessities, do not have the luxury of following their true calling. Those who are able to and do live in the light of life.

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sbeng

February 1, 2016

Erie: some nurses have the natural feeling to serve and make “the conscious choice”. Inwardly I find the job fulfilling. When I first went to Nursing School I went in to try to make a living. As time went on I found that this profession gave me great satisfaction. I could share the joy with the family when I helped the mother in the delivery of her precious baby. As you say “Spray white light through the heart of a true caregiver and a different rainbow emerges.”

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~liz Wessel

February 1, 2016

This is a substantive essay, Erie insightful and enlightening. You describe a common pitfall in healthcare. Take a good clinician and promote them into management without training (an experience too many of us can relate to.)
I was reflecting on your essay on the drive home. I thought of the cave sculptor, Ra Paulette and how he has followed his passion. So much of his work is mundane, the hollowing out of sandstone to create sacred space; the lugging out all those wheelbarrows of dirt over and over again. Even if you are doing what you love, a large part of one’s efforts can be painstaking and tedious and like Paulette may take a lifetime to come to fruition. A leader can see something beautiful on the other end of the tunnel; a light where most can barely see their next step in the dimly lit passageway. A great leader inspires others to persevere by sharing that vision, as you have been so gifted in sharing Light during your distinguished career and beyond as you continue to discover and spread beauty.

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erie

February 2, 2016

Thank you, Liz. You understand this issue so well. Your example of Ra Paulette is so perfect. Maybe it is all about light. What a gift Paulette offers – as does everyone who finds a high calling and pursues it.

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erie

February 2, 2016

You have clearly lived your calling in such beautiful ways, Suan. Congratulations!

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Jolyon

February 5, 2016

What are real leaders in a time where followers are the numbers game…followship is the ideal. Hits and retweets…reply all in the email chain.
Leaders have conversations. Religious, philosophical and business leaders started with a conversation. We look back and we can say some individuals were leaders, but look closely. They were teachers. They were there to give an answer, point a direction, give an encouragement. They knew when to listen and not say a thing. These leaders, teachers, gurus learned by loving an idea and sharing the love of that love…

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