Black Spirituals

Posted under Uncategorized on February 27th, 2008 by Steve Kellar with no responses

The life of a slave was a life of suffering. Who can fathom the brutal humiliation of being treated like an animal? Every day the slave was degraded and dehumanized. Every day the slave endured toil and hardship. Every day the slave was tempted to abandon hope. Every day, life began to look less attractive and death more appealing. Every morning, the slave awakened to bondage, and every night, the slave closed his eyes under the weight of oppression.

Yet, out of the suffering came singing. Out of despair, arose melodies of irrepressible hope. These songs, the black spirituals, carried the slaves through the misery of their circumstances. Importantly, they played two big roles: 1) Inspiration – they motivated slaves to persevere from day to day, and 2) Aspiration – they voiced the slaves’ dreams of a brighter future.

Inspiration

In days when the work was hard and the rest was short, the spirituals inspired slaves to press on. Painstakingly picking over 200 pounds of cotton each day, the slaves needed something to help them endure the drudgery of work on the plantation. The spirituals reminded the slaves of their faith, and their faith gave them the strength to persist. The music also unified the slaves in their suffering. Although life was hard, through song, the slaves shared in one another’s sorrow. By lifting their voices together, the slaves realized they were not suffering alone.

Aspiration

Rich in imagery, the black spirituals expressed the slaves’ aspirations of a better future. Through songs like Swing Low, Sweet Chariot the slaves dreamed of heaven. In other spirituals, the slaves longed for freedom. Rooted in biblical accounts, these spirituals told tales of Moses leading the Israelites out of Egyptian bondage, Daniel escaping death in the lion’s den, and Joseph rising out of slavery to become a mighty ruler. By painting a picture of a brighter future, the spirituals kept the slaves from accepting their chains or surrendering their dignity.

The Negro spirituals played a significant role in the lives of slaves because they addressed the human needs of inspiration and aspiration. Both needs are deeply embedded in the human spirit. People desire to be inspired, and they are longing for an aspiring leader to show them a vision of a better tomorrow.

Storytelling

To be successful, leaders must find a way to mix inspiration and aspiration into their leadership. However, today’s manager probably won’t get the desired effect by belting out "Get Down, Moses" (or any other black spiritual) in the office. Rather, leaders inspire people and help them aspire for greatness by telling stories.

Peter Guber, CEO of Mandalay Entertainment, places storytelling at the heart of influential leadership. Having produced Hollywood blockbusters like Rain Man and Batman, Guber can appreciate the power of a good plotline. "The leader of the company must narrate the story of the company," says Guber. "He must narrate the product, the people, the information into a set of rules, tools, values and beliefs that trickle down all the way through the culture of the company." According to Guber, storytellers elicit excitement by sweeping those they lead into a compelling drama. In the light of a larger story, the daily tasks of work are infused with significance.

Sweaty and exhausted from being overworked, the slave laborers of colonial America must have been tempted to give up every day. However, stories from their tradition of faith inspired them with metaphors of courage, strength, and hope. Upper management or entry-level, white collar or blue collar, work saps energy and depletes the worker. "The idea for the company and its leadership," writes Guber, "is that… more than perspiring, they must inspire." At times, leaders must roll up their sleeves and help with the tasks at hand. Yet more importantly, leaders must communicate the broader context of why the work is worth doing.

A Jewish proverb says, "Where there is no vision, the people perish." For African slaves, this maxim took on literal significance. On the plantation, a slave unfit for work was deemed unfit to live. In dire times of injury or ailment, the vision of freedom sustained the slaves, strengthening them day-to-day. Fortunately, in today’s workforce physical death isn’t an imminent consequence of burnout. However, a visionless person nonetheless pays a price. That price is a hollow, lifeless existence of passionlessly collecting paychecks. Such a person flips the calendar each month with no spark, no joy, and nothing to look forward to in life. Without aspiration, claims Guber, "the company is going to run out of fuel very quickly."

Leaders pump energy into the workplace by phrasing their vision with captivating imagery that allows their people to touch and taste the future. Through stories, they weave each individual’s dreams and desires into the narrative of the business. Workers cease to view themselves as a box on the organizational chart, and begin to see themselves as protagonists in the evolving drama of the company.

The words "aspiration" and "inspiration" both contain the Latin stem, spirare, which literally means, "to breathe." Much as the black spirituals breathed life into wearied slave laborers, a leader’s story has the power to resuscitate a downtrodden organization. When leaders master the arts of aspiration and inspiration, they free their organization from the chains of the mundane, and they inspire their people to explore the vastness of their potential.

To read the full text of Peter Guber’s conversation with Matthew Kirdahy of Forbes, access the article "When Not to Stick to the Script".

Progress

"Discontent is the first step in the progress of a man or a nation." ~ Oscar Wilde

"Progress is impossible without change, and those who cannot change their minds cannot change anything." ~ George Bernard Shaw

"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals." ~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

"The best way to be ready for the future is to invent it." ~ John Sculley

Personal Ministry of Steve Kellar