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Leadership Lens: From Now On
January 20, 2025
Near the end of the musical, The Greatest Showman, PT Barnum is alone and contemplating the burning of his theater and the wreckage of his life. In that moment, he finds that what remains, amidst the rubble around him, are people: relationships — with his family, his friends, his community. This recognition strengthens into resolve, and the thought becomes an anthem. “From now on” he first whispers, then voice rising to a roar, “I will see you here … and remember who all this was for!”
January 2025 finds many of us looking for meaning and direction in the midst of physical, social, and emotional rubble and stress. Cities are burning, voices are clashing, hopes for many are distant. Our sense of resilience may be fading.
Where can we find calm for our minds, and balm for our souls? Whom do we want to be “From now on…”? And how will that resolve change our priorities for the next journey around our shared star?
Like you, I can only answer that question for myself. And so, here are my answers and commitments. “I will see you here…. and remember who all this was for!”
The reason I helped found and now serve as the President of the InterFaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit (IFLC) is because it has helped me to see the world around me with greater clarity.
There is a lot of contention around the word “diversity” these days. To me, it simply means that none of us can see the world as it really is, for all of us. If we believe in the principle of Common Purpose, which is the foundation of democracy, then we must have an interest, an understanding, and a respect for how the world is seen by others. That is best accomplished by personally connecting with others who see parts of the world invisible to me, and (most importantly) learning from them the truths I must depend on them to share.
For me, that learning has included insights into experiences that are foreign to me, and new understandings of principles that are dear to me. I have better learned to “see you here…”
In my faith, we are taught to be “anxiously engaged in a good cause”. The Golden Rule gives us a starting point for understanding “a good cause”. Treat others as you would like to be treated. This is the philosophical bedrock from which principles and codes of justice have been developed. It builds upon self-interest, which is native to us all, and yet sets guardrails around it to protect us and others.
However, if we stop there, we will fall short of conceiving our Common Interest. This is the real glue of community, with “every man (and woman) seeking the interest of (their) neighbor”, understanding that those are their interests as well. Developing trust and a desire to serve others will create new relationships. And possibilities for mutual learning and change. This fulfills my sense of “Who all this is for…”. But it is hard to trust, or serve, those that we do not know.
The InterFaith Leadership Council is one means by which I have learned to see, serve and trust others. To redefine who I see as “us”, and who I see as “others”. And make wonderful new friends.
If this sounds appealing, I invite you to join me. See how giving some of your self through the IFLC, will help you to find more of yourself, in 2025, and “From now on….”
Bishop Greg Geiger
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
President, The Interfaith Leadership Council of Metropolitan Detroit
