Inspiration: Margaret Wheatley's "Who do you choose to be? An invitation to the nobility of leadership"

This article touched a nerve. It spoke to a deep yearning for humanity .... in what feels like a culture that is unravelling.

A dear colleague and friend had shared it with me on 1 May. With the invitation to pause and reflect, this Labor Day: “How can I create ‘Islands of Sanity’ around me? Am I leading with dignity, respect, and humanity?”

I read the article. Written by Margaret Wheatley, this paragraph resonated:

This world is depressing to contemplate, but it also is the truth of where we are.
As leaders, we have a choice. We can courageously and willingly step forward to serve, or we can withdraw into denial and self- protection. We can be Warriors for the Human Spirit, leaders willing to defend and support people, leaders who remember and value what humans are capable of creating together.
We need to turn our attention away from issues beyond our control and work with the people around us who are yearning for good leadership. We need to engage them in work that is within reach, that matters to them. We need to use our influence and power to create islands of sanity in the midst of this destructive sea. We can use our sphere of influence, however large or small, to do as Theodore Roosevelt enjoined us: “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are."
- Margaret Wheatley,
Source: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/ltl.20304

I was reminded of the story of the young child and the starfish.

A storm had washed up thousands of starfish onto a beach. The child was walking along and began throwing them back into the ocean, one by one.
An adult challenged the child: "What difference does it make throwing them back? There's way too many of them."
And the child, after thinking about it for a bit, picked one up and threw it back into the ocean as far as it could. And said: "It made a difference to that one."
After reflecting on what the child had said and done, the adult joined in, picking up starfish and throwing them back into the sea.

How can we create islands of sanity? Where we are?

One thing I'd be curious to explore is: "What is our culture accepting as 'the way it is', but which ultimately is simply an agreement to do things a certain way?" and "If we could, as society and culture, make any agreements that are rooted in goodness, beauty, truth and human dignity, what agreements would we make?"