There's a certain posture that goes with being an unculturer and a leader. You lean, push, pull, strain, stretch. There's very little of the "wait and see" posture. Because "wait and see" usually means you're just waiting to see what life (as if it's some mystical entity) is going to do to you. That's passivity at best; cowardice at worst.

Instead, look around. Look for opportunities to move, create, initiate, innovate, and lead. Then lean in, push, pull, and exert effort toward those opportunities. 

You simply cannot be afraid to fail. Failure, you see, is really one of the keys to success. If you're not failing, you're not trying things. You're not being innovative. You're not taking risks. You're playing it really safe, which is exactly what "they" want. 

So try things. Have original ideas, and further, share them. Talk about them. Rally others around them. Don't be afraid of rejection. Who really cares if someone doesn't like your idea? It's only after working through scores of bad ideas that you're going to reach that one really, really good one. And it's only through failures that you're going to learn, improve, grow, and stretch yourself.

What am I saying? Here it is -- fail. Fail often. And fail fearlessly.

Teams, groups, organizations, churches, etc, don't need perfect leaders. They need vulnerable ones. They need leaders who have faults and talk openly about them. Faults, after all, are part of our inherent humanity. There are few things more frustrating than following someone who perceives themselves to be flawless. When was the last time you openly discussed a shortcoming you have with, well, anyone? Those on your team? In your group or department at work? On your church staff (or better yet, your parishioners)? Within your organization?  

If you're straining to remember the last time, it's been far too long.

Very few individuals, if they're honest, enjoy going to work every day in an environment filled with distrust, political maneuvering, and so many of the other ugly things that characterize too many groups and organizations. And most folks, if you ask them, would say they wish things were different where they work. In fact, a recent Gallup poll suggests that up to 77% of individuals said they were miserable in their jobs. 

So people work places where they dislike the culture. And it's not just some people. It's a lot of people.

Those same people, unless they're gluttons for punishment, wish it were different.

(Do you see the opportunity yet?)

They need leaders. They need people to lead them where they already want to go. It's not like you'd be leading them toward some undesirable state of affairs. On the contrary, you'd be leading them toward a trusting, non-political, honest, healthy, passionate culture, which is exactly what most people want anyway. So if so many people want this, why don't must people find themselves in this type of atmosphere? What's missing?

Easy. Leaders. Unculturers. They need people with a certain angst about their environments, coupled with the desire and drive to do something to make a difference. They need you.

Ghandi. Martin Luther King, Jr. Jesus of Nazareth. Rosa Parks. Martin Luther. Socrates. 

Unculturers, all of them.

Being an unculturer isn't easy, regardless of the scenario within which you're attempting it. We see this all the time, and in a variety of settings. For example, think about the one who doesn't quite fit the mold in his or her church or religious group (it's Sunday, so this example seems appropriate). Sometimes, in some groups, that's OK, granted. But other times, in other groups, it's definitely not. You can be maligned, frowned upon, looked down on, talked about (actually, usually whispered about), and so on. 

That means you've really got to believe in what you're doing. It's got to be important. It's got to be more than adopting a slogan, and it's got to be more than becoming a non-conformist for the sake of becoming a non-conformist. There must be a compelling reason. Something you believe deeply in. Something that's good, courageous, daring, and for the greater good of the group. Something that becomes more important than "their" acceptance. 

This isn't easy. Important things rarely are.