Don’t Follow Leaders

Bob Dylan’s lyric, “Don’t follow leaders/watch the parking meters,” keeps coming back to me as I think about today’s political landscape. There’s wisdom in Dylan’s turn of phrase—cautioning us not only about whom we follow but also about the systems we create when we invest too deeply in any one individual.

When a movement, a nation, or an idea becomes anchored in a single leader, there’s power, yes, but there’s also a cost.

Charismatic and ultimately autocratic leadership draws in passionate followers, builds momentum, and galvanizes people in ways only a charismatic figure can. But over time, systems that depend too heavily on one person and his or her enablers tend to stall. They mirror the leader’s strengths and weaknesses, and when the tides around that leader shift—as they inevitably do—the system struggles to adapt, and prefers to crush alternative voices, to avoid change, to flatten the landscape leadership is meant to protect and share.

In both Israel and the U.S., the intensity of division within our respective political climates, are part of a global shift toward strong, central figures. But if we’re to take Dylan’s advice to heart, maybe it’s time to look beyond the figurehead and focus on what might keep things moving rather than getting stuck in this pattern. The “parking meters” Dylan mentions remind us that systems need grounding, and strong leaders provide this. But leaders are meant to come and go, while the structures they leave behind remain. And more than this, the meter is running when we get stuck in one place, and the cost in time, blood, and treasure to pay for such stasis can be deeply painful and difficult to heal.

The true test of leadership, then, might not be in the rise of any single individual, but in our ability to cultivate resilient, adaptable systems that different kinds of leaders and leadership can serve in different ways. Systems that hold space for many voices that can carry more than one tune, and that don’t get blinded by one person’s vision of the future, last much longer at a much lesser cost.

I, for one, regardless of my personal preferences for political leaders in these turbulent days, intend to spend more time thinking about the people who are parked next to me as the collective meter runs, but also want something altogether different than I do. Perhaps this way, when it’s time for change or when a strong leader’s meter is up or when the cost that leader has burdened us with is too high—and that time will surely come—we can do a much better job of moving forward together.