We Need “Political Artists” in Government, Not “Political Hacks”

"It is the artists of the world….who will ultimately save us; [those] who can articulate, educate, defy, insist, sing and shout the big dreams." -- Leonard Bernstein, Conductor

Bernstein’s comment succinctly spells out the role of the artist in society.  And, by artist, I mean more than the common understanding of artist as merely someone gifted in the graphic arts.  Artistry extends, as well, into many areas of life--music, poetry, photography, the dramatic arts, even the culinary arts, just to name a few.

The artist is one who perceives what the ordinary person fails to perceive, who articulates what the common person fails to articulate.  Thus, the artist is a leader in the sense of challenging us to look for new understanding in previously unexamined areas and with previously unrecognized awareness.

“What if the best artists are also leaders, and the best leaders are also artists?”  This is the central question posed by Yamaha artist Kevin Asbjörnson, MIM, in his distinctive executive education experience, Artistry of Leadership - Creating Meaningful Connections®.

Asbjörnson asks further: “What if there are parallel creative competencies between leaders and artists?”

On a very interesting site called “The Artist’s Path,” Barbara Erickson  has written:

Being an artist, a person of creativity, expands the whole person. An artist thinks outside a box created by the collective thought. An artist sees more, hears more, perceives more [possibilities], and makes Life larger, greater, and new.

One can be an artist in business or in society or in government. Allowing time within the hustle and bustle of today’s lifestyle, to be quiet and to visualize unexplored ideas, colors, shapes, rhythms, movements, negotiations, etc. brings forth the greatest contributions to Living. The artist develops a greater awareness of any and everything of Life [Emphasis added]

She goes on to state:

The function of an artist in society is to bring about positive change, stimulate thoughts outside the normal collective thought, introduce new methods of doing a task, operating a business, or handling a project. The artist may create beauty where it had not existed [Emphasis added].

How often do our so-called civil servants serve the purpose of creating beauty “where it had not existed” before?  Should this not be their function?  And, if so, are we very remiss in electing individuals without the mentality of the artist to leadership roles in our government?  Is this failure, perhaps, the origin of our many government woes at present?

Consider the young Ukrainian woman (Kseniya Simonova)  in the following remarkable video.  She is the Ukraine Got Talent 2009 winner.

Watching her perform, we become mindful of her extraordinary capacity to move an audience nonverbally.  In doing so, she manifests not only her talent as an artist, but her capacity as a kind of modern-day shaman as well.  Observe the dramatic flourishes that she uses, which are reminiscent of the magician on stage.

In Neolithic, hunter-gather groups, leaders were, reputedly, of four types:

…the big man, who was usually the most important hunter; the chief, who was usually an older man or woman who was respected because of years of experience; the medicine man or woman, or shaman, who worked with plants and minerals to cure the illnesses and injuries of the tribe; and the artisan, who was particularly skilled at manufacturing goods necessary to the tribe's survival such as spears, baskets or clothing.

http://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Ancient_History/Human_Evolution/Neolithic_Age

Certainly, Kseniya Simonova, uses her artistic talent to expand perception and to heal.  Might such an individual be more effective as a political leader than the current political hacks who occupy positions of power?

FreeDictionary.com defines “political hack” as:

…a politician who belongs to a small clique that controls a political party for private rather than public ends.

Such individuals are prone to “hacking” away at the Constitution unremorsefully.  They are not leaders of people.  They are “users” of people.  They are con-artists who have chosen politics rather than sales as a profession.  Thus, they manipulate us into electing them based on promises that they never intend to keep.

So, who would you prefer in a government leadership role—an artist like Kseniya Simontova or a Barack Obama, who, like her, certainly has the charisma to attract a large following but who lacks her perceptive, whole-brained way of operating in the world [note that her video has attracted over 11 million views]?

Technorati Tags: Technorati Tags: Barbara Erickson,leader,political artists,political hacks,artists,Leonard Bernstein,society,artistry,leadership,Kyseniya Simontova,Ukaraine Got Talent 2009,Barack Obama,whole-brained,creativity,Neolithic,Kevin Asbjörnson