5: The Explorer

There are five expressions of healthy leadership, and each expression activates a passion buried in the soil of the heart.

Secretly, I would really like to be Bear Grylls. It may be buried deep inside my psyche, but given the right circumstances, my survivalist instincts will rise to the surface. When I'm far enough away from signs of civilization, I slip into this fantasy where I understand what sort of things are poisonous or healthy for consumption. I imagine holstering a knife the size of my thigh, cruising down white-water rapids or starting a fire with three twigs and pocket lint. I then turn to the camera, with a certain joy in my self-aware expertise, and explain the awesome things I just did.

Now please understand: I don't want to adopt his bizarre culinary practices or his unusual uses for human urine. I just love that sense of exploration; having the ability to move beyond survival and into a greater sense of adventure. I believe it is instinctual to everyone, on some level. We are created to seek and find; to go where no-one else has been, to see what no-one else has seen.

In the creation account of the Torah, Adam is asked by God to name all of the animals. Perhaps God created a powerpoint slideshow and set up a theatre for Adam's convenience; or perhaps a hammock where he could lay, as every living creature walked by in single-file.

Or, perhaps it was a grander sort of adventure. Maybe, just maybe, he had to traverse outside of the safety and familiarity of the garden, into the wider world, to seek and find what he was called to name. He did have all the time in the world to take on such a feat, though by the literal account, he would've been naked. That is a whole new level of rugged, and it's where I would certainly draw the line.

In a more modern, clothed context, we have cinematic escapades that capture our imagination. With only his wits and his whip, Indiana Jones is never truly anxious about any of the dangers he faces. Braving the most brutal terrains and booby-trapped temples, he survives every threat only with moments to spare. And the relic he's after is always lost, but his sense of curiosity is satisfied... and so he returns to his classroom. Back to a nerdy persona, awkward in conversation, obsessed with artifacts that others claim are only legends.

In order for anything to grow, it must obtain and process nutrients. It must seek, and it must find. It must explore with a purpose mind; there must be an artifact worth pursuing. This is how communities and individuals advance; this is why books are written, this is why social libraries have existed for countless millennia.

The truest nature of a teacher is to share the story of your exploration, and the relics you've obtained. It is to instill a desire for adventure, for the pursuit of truth, to learn for the purpose of growth.