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Welcome to Episode 107 of The Non-Anxious Leader podcast. I'm Jack Shitama and like so many of my episodes, the idea for this one came from a coaching client.

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It's based on a lecture given by Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in 2013. I'll post a link of the transcript in the show notes. The transcript is dense and long. I will summarize important points that help me make the connection between a creative minority and self-differentiation.

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In the lecture, Sacks alludes to a May 2004 lecture on the Christian roots of Europe by Joseph Cardinal Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict the 16th. In this lecture, Ratzinger called for Christians to be a creative minority. I believe, in our highly charged and deeply divided world, that the concept of a creative minority can be helpful to non-anxious leaders.

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Before getting into the idea of a creative minority, Sacks' lecture highlights two different understandings of civilization. One of these understandings comes from Oswald Spengler, who believed that civilizations rise and then they fall. They decay, and their death and ultimate demise is inevitable.

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Arnold Toynbee also believed that civilizations rise and fall and can ultimately disappear. But he said that because civilizations have a spiritual dimension, that the fall, the decay, the decline can be reversed and revitalization and renewal is possible. According to Toynbee, the possibility for revitalization comes from a group called the creative minority. These are people who see things differently than the society at large, and because of this offer, the possibility for solving the problems of a decaying civilization.

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Ratzinger highlighted these two differences and called on Christians to be a creative minority in reversing the decline of Western civilization. Sacks, building on this, notes that Jews throughout much of their history have been a creative minority. They have been foreigners in a strange land.

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To the extent that this has been the case, Hebrew culture has had to be creative in their ability to survive and even thrive. In so doing, they have contributed to the culture around them. To me, the idea that a creative minority can offer a gift to the surrounding culture is a fascinating one. And as I noted in Episode 105, I believe our society is regressing, which to me is a sign of a culture in demise. As a person of faith, I believe there is an opportunity to be a creative minority in a mostly secular world.

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In his lecture, Rabbi Jonathan Sacks notes that if you are a stranger in a foreign land, you have four choices.

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The first is to accommodate to the secularism around you. He notes that this is what liberal Protestants did in the second half of the 20th century. He believes that in doing this, they have lost their way. I would also submit that the Christian right, which rose to prominence in the late 20th century and the first two decades of this century, are another example of the same thing. What they both have in common is the idea that political power can help achieve God's means in the world. So rather than being a creative minority in each of these cases, they have tried to be the powerful majority.

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My own take on this is that Christianity has never been effective when it has tried to take power. In so doing it has always been co-opted by the political powers of the day. From a family systems perspective, we can think of giving in to secularism as adaptivity. By trying to seek power to make the changes that they wanted to see, these Christians, either left or right, gave in to the surrounding togetherness pressure. They gave in to the cultural norms of the day rather than standing up for what they believe in in a way that did not adapt to the political rules, the political powers that be.

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A second option when one's principles are in conflict with the surrounding culture is to resist. This would be the revolutionary approach, the approach of the zealot. In family systems terms, this would be considered reactivity. As we know from reactivity. When we get in a conflict of wills, the fight becomes more important than the issue. It's process, not content. We are not likely to be a catalyst for positive change when we are reactive in this way.

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The third option is to withdraw into a protective enclave. A good example of this would be Hasidic Jews who have their own community. And although they have contact with the outside world, they are mostly insulated from it. Another example of this might be the more traditional Amish communities. In family systems terms, this would be considered cut off. It's impossible to change a system when one is not emotionally connected by withdrawing from that system. Those who seek to avoid the influence of the surrounding culture also forgo the opportunity to change it.

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The fourth option is what Ratzinger and Sacks both point to, which is the idea of becoming a creative minority.

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As Sacks says in his lecture, "The fourth possibility, to become a creative minority, is not easy because it involves maintaining strong links with the outside world while staying true to your faith, seeking not merely to keep the sacred flame burning, but also to transform the larger society of which you are a part. This is, as Jews can testify, a demanding and risk laden choice."

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This fourth possibility, as described by Sacks, is leadership through self-definition, staying true to your faith, but maintaining strong links with the outside world. That is claiming your own goals and values while remaining connected to those with whom you disagree.

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The idea of being a creative minority is the idea of leading through self-differentiation to try to achieve the change you seek. If you want to be an agent of change, the best way you can do this is to seek to be a creative minority and maintain a non-anxious presence by leading through self-differentiation. You point towards a better reality without trying to seize political power, either by peaceful or violent means, and without withdrawing from society.

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This is like leadership through self-differentiation. In any system, you must be able to articulate your goals and values, to be able to cast vision and to say what things can actually be like when they get to a better reality, without trying to convert or coerce others into agreeing. It's all about defining self and not defining others. The other side of this is to remain emotionally connected, especially to the most resistant, to the ones with whom you disagree most.

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My favorite example of this is Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King exemplified leadership through self-differentiation and leading a creative minority. He shared his dream of a just society. But he didn't seek this through obtaining political power, but by influencing the culture around him. He did this without demonizing his opponents or seeking violent resistance.

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In fact, Dr. King was so intent on avoiding the violence of resistance that in "Letter from Birmingham Jail," he describes a term he calls self-purification, in which he and the protest organizers would practice dealing with the antagonism of people who were against them so as to make sure that they would not respond with violence. They were intent on peaceful protest. Dr. King's example of leadership in the civil rights movement is an example of leadership through self-differentiation of a creative minority.

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When we think of a society in regression and a creative minority trying to get to a better place, it's impossible to avoid the idea of creative disruption. The idea of creative disruption is the breaking of convention, going against tradition, to accelerate positive change. In family systems terms, this would be taking a non-anxious emotional stand against the surrounding togetherness pressure, against the pressure to conform to the cultural norms. This can be contrasted with creative destruction, which is to clear everything away and start from scratch.

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The idea with creative disruption is we understand what the current norms are and we are willing to take a stand against them to disrupt their hold on the system. The interesting thing about this is we often think of disruption as cataclysmic events. But in reality, creative disruption is more about a consistent series of smaller events that continually disrupt the norm.

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Again, as we think of the civil rights movement, there were many different aspects to it. Peaceful protests, diner boycotts, bus boycotts, Rosa Parks sitting in the front of the bus, litigation to end desegregation. As we look back, these seem like major events in history, but I imagine if you were going through it, it would seem like drip, drip, drip, one action after another in the struggle for justice. This is what creative disruption is about, trying to change the norms by a consistent series of acts where one takes a stand against the norms of the day.

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My own understanding of being a creative minority is informed by my Christian faith. As I mentioned before, my study of Christian history tells me that seeking power is not the way to do it, that being a creative minority is the most faithful and effective way to change things for the better.

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My vision of a preferred future is based on the Reign of God, where Jesus will return to fulfill all of God's promises. I understand this to reflect the kind of community that God wants for all of creation, one that is just, loving and life-giving. I also think of the idea of leadership through self-differentiation as being a creative minority.

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I think of it non-anxious leaders as being a creative minority by focusing on leadership through self-differentiation, by focusing on being a non-anxious presence. We are not trying to convince others to agree with us. We are rather trying to point to a better reality where we can move forward in healthy ways. To me, that is the essence of being a non-anxious leader and that is how we can make a difference even in this most difficult time.