2023 Q4 Newsletter

Can't see images, click here

We are closing out the New Year with eruptions of violence in a number of locations in the world. Not what we wish for the holiday season, or any season. Perhaps this newsletter will offer pools of light and hope through a number of bright spots, modest as they are. Wishing you and those you hold dear feelings of gratitude for the comforts and blessings you have. May these be extended to those less fortunate at this time.

With my best wishes
Ira Chaleff

Creating Effective

Followership

Five years ago I was invited to speak on followership and intelligent disobedience at the British Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst. Five years later I was invited back by the British Centre for Army Leadership to offer the opening address to the day long symposium on Creating Effective Followership.

The Centre for Army Leadership had developed an addendum to the Army Leadership Doctrine on the subject of followership, a significant milestone. Representatives of many other militaries participated, so it is fair to assume the ideas will spread further.

Why is this important to you? Our freedom is better guaranteed if the militaries that defend our countries are instilled with a culture of personal responsibility at every level to follow legal orders and resist those that are illegal or immoral. That is the essence of courageous followership. You can view my talk and the subsequent panel here.

Middle East

The anguished events that have occurred in the last two months in Israel and Gaza weigh on us all. There are no simple answers to the complex politics of the region for the last hundred years and earlier. But neither does that condone the wanton rampage and slaughter that occurred on October 7. Twenty years ago, I wrote a book on the use of violence, in response to the horror of rebel groups cutting off the hands and arms of hundreds of children in Sierra Leone. The book is a thoughtful examination of legitimate and illegitimate responses to perceived oppression, set in the revolutionary movements of the 20^th century. If you wish to see the thinking of this the book can be found here. It has also been translated into Arabic; the publisher is now defunct, but a free PDF of the translation is available here.

Ukraine

We are now approaching the anniversary of the 2^nd year of Ukraine’s resistance to the Russian invasion. The outcome grows less certain with time, yet history repeatedly warns us that letting aggressors succeed only encourages further aggression.

In memory of that event, I offer you the powerful reading by Stephen Macht of my poem On The 200th Day.

Lead & Follow Podcast

My dear colleague, Sharna Fabiano, has been doing an exceptional job of locating a wide variety of thinkers and doers to discuss the application of followership in the context of their work. I encourage you to check out one of her podcasts and consider becoming a regular listener.

Mark Your Calendar

If you are a student, researcher, educator or practitioner of followership, mark your calendar for the

This promises to be a landmark gathering of serious thinkers on the ever-more-vital subject, and the first one on the European Side of the Atlantic in the Scottish city of Glasgow. I will be there as will almost everyone who is contributing important thinking to how we move forward in our understanding of pro-social and anti-social followership. I will be talking about my forthcoming book on political leading and following: To Stop a Tyrant (more on that in the next newsletter).

17 Quail Roost Lane, Huntly, Virginia, 22640, United States of America