Saint Paul comes to mind as someone who inspired trust and elicited hope. This is so fundamentally important a virtue that its importance cannot be overestimated. Anyone who has this quality has great influence over others. It can be a characteristic of children opening the hearts and pocketbooks of their grandparents. It is an important ingredient of natural leadership that elicits goodwill and support among others. Of course, this ability to inspire and elicit also is founded in the hearts and minds of others. It requires a resonance of values, beliefs, principles, and desires—a profound sense of relationship. This explains why someone can be a pronounced leader in one context while being despised and ridiculed in others. Jesus was a leader among his disciples, but was crucified by those who did not share his values. The spiritual climate of a nation is vastly important, for it determines the quality of leadership and the agenda produced. For while getting everyone on the same page can be a great source of societal strength, if it is the wrong page disaster ensues.
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