The Death Of Idealism

31 posted on July 31, 2009

POSTED IN: Blog Posts, Leadership, Makes You Think

I’ve always considered myself an unabashed idealist. In the face of difficult situations I’ve often gone against the odds and have clung to that picture in my head of the way things “should be.” Heck, most personality profiles I take place me somewhere between Jiminy Cricket and Ghandi.

In the course of a conversation last week with a new coach he briefly touched on something that I’m still wrestling with. He very bluntly told me that, as a leader, the courage to make the crucial decisions that affect the long-term health of your organization can only be found when idealism dies.

This challenged me to re-think the idealism I’ve clung to through the years and wonder whether it can survive in the arena of difficult decisions that leaders are faced with.

The Idealist Vacuum

I’ve heard it said that “idealism is something you have until you actually start paying attention.” Idealists are often scorned for their ideas and yet we love them for envisioning something different. You need only look at the host of true-life stories that are turned into movies, books and television specials to recognize our love affair with the idealist. We romaticise them and cheer them on against the cynics and realists that try to bring them down.

Julia “Butterfly” Hill was a fairly prominent environmental activist. She is the person who sat in an old-growth (which she called “Luna”) as an act of non-violent civil disobedience to protect a portion of the environment. Hollywood is currently making a movie about her experience but what often gets overlooked are the facts that A) the surrounding forest still got cut, B) her organization ended up simply buying the land, and C) the tree she “saved” eventually ended up having a chainsaw taken to it and only stands today because of giant metal braces which were attached to it.

The problem with idealism is that it is often presented in an intellectual vacuum and often starts to crumble when presented with the most basic opposition. The idealist can describe the perfect world that they see to you without having any realistic way to get there.

We admire the Julia “Butterfly” Hills because of their idealism but we don’t make movies about the lobbyists, businessmen and corporate executives who fight the same battles in the “real world” every day. Their stories, I suppose, are less than inspiring.

Short-Sighted Idealism vs. Long-Term Impact

I’m not saying that all idealists need a cold, hard dose of reality to get them to their senses. On the contrary, we still need the idealists so that we don’t lose sight of what could be. It’s the idealists who stand up against the status quo and envision a world free from the problems and difficulties we currently face. But it is the morally courageous leader who has to translate that idealism into long-term change.

I’m still wrestling with last week’s conversation and I wonder if perhaps there’s not a happy medium between idealism and the courage to act in a leaders life. I wonder if the best leaders still filter their decisions through idealists glasses while recognizing that often, the necessary decisions for the good of the organization are far from “ideal”.

Perhaps the best leaders still have a little idealist left in them.

Then again, that could be my idealism talking.

What do you think?

Does idealism prevent leaders from making difficult and necessary decisions?
Can you be both an effective leader and an idealist?

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12 Comments

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July 31, 2009

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1 jordan said:

“Idealism is what precedes experience, cynicism is what follows.” David T. Wolf

Idealism seems to fade with age and exposure to the outside world – it’s hard not to become jaded when our greatest institution (founded on our great ideals) has become so terribly corrupt.
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July 31, 2009

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2 Brad Ruggles said:

Interesting quote. You’re right, idealism is becoming increasingly more difficult in today’s messed up world.
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July 31, 2009

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3 Aaron Jackson said:

Brad,
I’ve become quite a fan of Ecc. 7:18, “the man who fears God will avoid all extremes.” I think you’re right that a courageous leader will always have a bit of idealism in them, but they know how to temper that with the reality of the present situation.
I think Idealism has the POTENTIAL to keep leaders from making tough decisions. However, a great leader must be both courageous AND wise! Discernment will help temper the idealism.
Great post, man! Keep ‘em coming!
AJ
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July 31, 2009

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4 Brad Ruggles said:

That’s an awesome verse and very applicable for this topic. I tend to agree with you. It’s the extremes that lead to trouble. We can’t always be dreaming up these idealistic situations but to be cynical and jades is equally dangerous.
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July 31, 2009

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5 Michael Warden said:

Fascinating post, Brad. Hits home. Rather than spout my own thoughts on this (of which there are way too many to post in a comment), I’ll share a couple of quotes that came to mind as I read your post:

“The reasonable man adapts himself to the world; the unreasonable one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore all progress depends on the unreasonable man.”
George Bernard Shaw

“Imagination is everything. It is the preview of life’s forthcoming attractions.”
Albert Einstein

“Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go.”
T.S. Eliot

I think idealism is essential to leadership, and it takes extraordinary courage to hang on to it in the face of repeated disappointments and losses. But without it, we settle, we aim too low.
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July 31, 2009

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6 Aaron Guilmette said:

Leaders need to be both idealistic and pragmatic. They need to see where they want to go and be realistic about the steps needed to get there.

Idealism is a journey, not a destination. Every step towards the vision is a step away from the banal past.
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July 31, 2009

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7 Brad Ruggles said:

Love this quote I just found…

“The leader has to be practical and a realist, yet must talk the language of the visionary and the idealist.”
- Eric Hoffer
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July 31, 2009

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8 Aaron Guilmette said:

Leaders give us a vision. Good leaders instill the vision in us. Great leaders inspire us to accomplish the vision.
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July 31, 2009

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9 BJ said:

Balance, balance balance… I don’t have any fancy quotes, but balance is all we need. If you are living in the Land of OZ and can’t relate to the real world what good are you… On the contrary if you are so one-sighted and can’t chage, be relevant, adapt or imagine how to improve problems in the world what good are you, just a smelly old guy that won’t shut up. A great leader is visionary, but responsible with their vision and relevant to the current situations that are in the here and now……
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August 1, 2009

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10 I am an Idealist « Chris is searching… said:

[...] am an Idealist Yesterday, Brad Ruggles posted a blog called The Death of Idealism. I immediately sent the link to Lorana with a few thoughts. We continued the conversation [...]
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August 3, 2009

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11 Andrew said:

I agree with BJ we need balance it is not idealism that is the problem it is inaction. The fact that many idealists simply won’t compromise doesn’t mean you won’t. Please be a idealist we need more of those but know like you said that sometimes situations will be less then ideal. Keep what could be later and what can be now, Mother Theresa couldn’t see the future but she changed it. She didn’t sit on her hands because she couldn’t have it a certain way she simply made do.
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October 7, 2009

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12 Forrest said:

I think idealism vs reality is like muscles vs weights. If you have a naive idealistic understanding of the world and pit it against the harshness of reality, it’s like a nine year-old trying to bench 200lb with no spotter (they’re gonna get squished). In my opinion, idealism is something that should grow and evolve with you as you mature and learn more about reality (if you don’t use it you lose it). The reason why idealism fades with age is analogous to why people stop exorcising, they get caught up in the daily grind and life becomes more about routine than trying to be a better you. True idealists understand that idealism isn’t just about thinking everything can and should be perfect. It’s about constantly reevaluating what perfect could be using the knowledge you gain from being subjected to reality every day(training your idealism muscles with the gradual increasing weight of the world). While a good and practical grasp of reality keeps things running smoothly, leaders need their idealism muscles to be trained for those crucial moments when they have the opportunity to make something good great. Having never thought of a better way to live, we’d all still be dealing with the harsh reality of caveman life.