Jerry Sanders, mayor of San Diego, California, earlier this week changed his political position about gay marriage. I have closely watched the video of his announcement (the link is below).
http://cbs5.com/video/?id=26888@kpix.dayport.com

Many will agree with Sanders’ position and many will disagree. Some may say this was a political stunt on Sanders’ part. For me, all such arguments miss the point.

My intuitive sense in watching the Sanders video is that he was speaking from his heart about a decision he truly found to be a heart-wrenching one to make. As he said, in the end he chose to lead with his heart. My suspicion is that this is a man who dared to do some courageous inner grappling that too few of us allow or trust ourselves to do. The grappling he did was between the ideology to which he subscribes and his heart’s deepest sense of what is right.

Ideologies provide people with a sense of stability and predictability in an unstable and insecure world. When our need for stability and predictability overrules our heart’s deepest truth, deep inner turmoil always results. This turmoil can propel a person into even greater ideological rigidity or into a deeper state of teachability, depending on their inner courage or inner cowardace.

An ideology is simply an imperfect lens through which we attempt to make sense of a world that will always be far more complex than any one ideological lens can capture. Any leader who does not recognize this is a dangerous leader.

When any of us makes adherence to an ideology more important than listening to the voice for love, for our own deepest humanity, we have turned our ideology from our servant into our master. This kind of ideological rigidity is a form of fanaticism, and fanaticism is an illness that corrupts integrity and contributes profoundly to the problems we face in today’s world.

In contrast, having the courage and wisdom to allow our ideology to co-mingle with our deepest sense of love and inner knowing is a doorway to greater integrity. I applaud Jerry Sanders not as much for the position he took as for his courage to undertake the mighty inner battle between his own sense of humanity and his ideological convictions, and, in the process, allowing his ideological lens to be informed and transformed by his sense of humanity.

To me, this is an example of leadership integrity. Our stand on an issue is no measure whatsoever of our leadership integrity. The courage to do our own version of what Sanders did regarding any issues our ideology is in conflict with higher love is one of the measures of leadership integrity. The courage to arrive at whatever positions we arrive at through this kind of humility, rather than through ideological rigidity, is one of the measures of leadership integrity.

I applaud you for your role-modeling, Mayor Sanders.

Continuing his dedication to refusing to tolerate yet another example of lack of integrity, Roger Goodell, the head of the National Football League, fined New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick a record half million dollars for defying NFL rules by spying on his opponent’s coaches during a football game. This is the maximum financial fine Goodell is authorized to levee. He also fined the New England Patriots organization and additional quarter-million dollars. And he took away one of their draft picks in next year’s draft. Bravo, Roger Goodell.

Suspending Belichick for a game or two might have sent an even stronger message but I am still glad that action was considered, swift and decisive. It of course remains to be seen whether Goodell will go so far as to initiate an investigation into whether this spying was an isolated incident or a more regular habit. Nonetheless, Goodell’s actions are role-modeling not only to fellow professional sports leagues, but to all those involved in amateur athletics and child athletics, how crucial it is to preserve integrity in all forms of competition. This role-modeling sends a great message to organizers of child athletic leagues, to team coaches, to the children who play and to their parents.

Too bad someone doesn’t have this kind of power to discipline politicians, political pundits and lobbyists!

In yet another example of how leaders, political pundits and many others are helping to crush the public’s capacity to discern fact from spin, President Bush role-modeled this very problem during his speech last night. For the facts, click here:
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20766644

If this practice were a one-time aberration, or if only a few people did it, well… there are always a few rotten apples. But, it is being role-modeled every day in every way by far too many political, business and even some religious leaders, by lobbyists, by media pundits and talk radio hosts, and by everyday people across the political and ideological spectrum. After all, if so many leaders do it, it must be okay, right?

The truth is that is practice of making it impossible to distinguish supposed facts from actual spin clouds everyone’s capacity for discernment. This widespread practice renders even the most well-meaning people unable to make informed decisions despite their best intentions. This example of widespread lack of integrity undermines the very foundation of democracy and free society.

It is time for people across the political, ideological and advocacy spectrum to start insisting to the leaders, advocates and commentators that they support cease this practice once and for all. We need to focus less on attacking the “other side” for doing this and focus more on using our power where it can be felt, through insisting that “our side” stop doing this.