I don't know the entire context of your quote. But it's interesting that Greenleaf believes feelings of responsibility for the wider community to be born, not made.
I agree that individuals probably have genetic predisposition towards responsibility for their group/community, but I would also imagine that it can be greatly strengthened through personal reflection, i.e., "made" not just "born".
The reflection would focus on the well-being of the larger group---that when goodness comes to the larger group, the benefit echoes outward, improving the lives of family, future generations, friends, and generally people we care about. Truly servant leadership.
Tom, your point on pain, and Greenleaf's points, suggests responsibility is double-edged. The responsible individual shares in the good of the larger group, but is saddened by the pain of group members.
Good posting on a value we should all think about. Thank you!
Chris,
Regarding the feeling of responsibility being born not made, my take on this is that we are all born with a sense of responsibility. Unfortunately if you spend much time in our society, you are soon taught to ignor this feeling by throwing ourselves into escape mode via what Greenleaf talked about in my earlier post "entertainment". We can relearn to pay attention to the feeling, when we stop trying to drown it out via overwork, use of drugs or alcohol, burying ourselves with one more form of entertainment, buying the right product, etc. For me, the saddness comes about when I fail to act on things that I can change, things that in some way or form I am responsible for. I think the Serenity Prayer gets at this "Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference". When I take action for things I can change, the sadness is replaced with a feeling of accomplishment. There is also much I cannot do anything about or that I am not responsible for. These are things I need to just accept.
Anyway, just some more ramblings on responsibility.
Thanks for the comments.
Tom
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