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I couldn’t believe what was happening. My team from the Preemptive Love Coalition was darting through the back streets in one of Iraq’s holiest cities, on the way to meet the most anti-American, firebrand cleric in all of Iraq.
I was outside Iraq at the time, and my team was led by my good friend, Cody, who was playing host to the first medical team we had ever been able to bring to this historic Iraqi city.
When the opportunity came up to meet with the mercurial cleric who had dominated world headlines for years, some of our key advisors suggested that we push-off, not only for safety concerns, but even more for concerns of being associated with the guy. It got me thinking about the fear most people feel about entering into dialogue and relationship with their enemies, even when those enemies open up a window for peace.
For so many of us, it is not the content of the confrontation we are trying to avoid. Instead, we fear the association itself; the mere image of us yukking it up with the enemy, lest our friends turn on us, saying gone over to the dark side.
So, here are four reasons I believe you must not live in fear of guilt by association if you hope to be an effective change leader...
I couldn’t believe what was happening. My team from the Preemptive Love Coalition was darting through the back streets in one of Iraq’s holiest cities, on the way to meet the most anti-American, firebrand cleric in all of Iraq.
I was outside Iraq at the time, and my team was led by my good friend, Cody, who was playing host to the first medical team we had ever been able to bring to this historic Iraqi city.
When the opportunity came up to meet with the mercurial cleric who had dominated world headlines for years, some of our key advisors suggested that we push-off, not only for safety concerns, but even more for concerns of being associated with the guy. It got me thinking about the fear most people feel about entering into dialogue and relationship with their enemies, even when those enemies open up a window for peace.
For so many of us, it is not the content of the confrontation we are trying to avoid. Instead, we fear the association itself; the mere image of us yukking it up with the enemy, lest our friends turn on us, saying gone over to the dark side.