Lead forward in the direction of goodness and not just away from a bad present.
It's so easy to trash the past or the present that many get stuck doing that. People in pain may not know exactly why they're in pain, but they do know they want the pain to go away. It's easy to make a connection with them by empathizing with and emphasizing their pain. Some leaders get sucked in by the connection they make and get sucked into the problem. It keeps them from focusing on the solution and ends up getting in the way.
Picture of a brighter future
Instead, use that pain as a platform for change; and then paint a picture of a brighter future and give people actions they can take to move toward that future. People want to be part of the solution, not the problem. Inspire and enable them.
