What difference can YOU make?
I’m often told that the challenges we face in the world are too big for one person to make a difference. Or that the time is past for meaningful change. And many of us believe that leadership is best left to others. But I believe that we are in a time that calls for a new understanding of what it means to be a leader, a time that challenges each of us to take leadership in our lives and in our world. And I believe that each of us has something unique and valuable that we can offer. Each of us is called to be a transformative leader.
What is a transformative leader? Transformative leadership can't be described as one type of work or action because the re-orientation our world needs is so vast and comprehensive. And it needs to happen on several fronts simultaneously. We are transformative leaders when we question and dare to hold new visions of our institutions, scientific worldview and cultural paradigm. It happens when we we listen deeply to multiple perspectives and have conversions across difference. It occurs as courageous individuals tackle difficult questions of corporate social responsibility within troubled organizations and institutions, as they confront the dysfunctional nature of corporate cultures, and as they attempt to apply spirituality and whole-systems thinking to their work. And it happens as talented workers leave traditional organizations to create new structures, possibilities, alliances and different ways of working.
It occurs in the schools, on the streets, in our homes, and in our hearts. It happens both as we heal old personal traumas and as we turn our gaze outward in an attempt to heal the structures we live in. It occurs as we compassionately listen to each other, as we confront our own blind spots and refuse to shirk away from our own power. It occurs as we hope, dream, envision, falter, learn from our mis-steps and try again. It happens through small steps of caring and giving.
Transformative leadership is embodied in the protection and regeneration of life in all of its dimensions. Although we may be working in very different ways, ultimately, we are all working for and within the same organization – the organization of Life and the future of our world. And it is for that purpose that we must gather our energy, motivation and willingness to examine, experiment, change and find solace and inspiration in each other’s work.
Yes, we need courageous leaders to stand up to multinationals, to facilitate international movements, to initiate new institutions, to stand on podiums and inspire others… we need them to take the risks they take on behalf of the seeds, the water and for future generations. But these leaders alone cannot accomplish the kind of transformation that is needed.
What is required is that each of us takes leadership in our own lives, in our own families and sphere of influence. Small actions can and do make a difference – to our individual lives and to the way our lives impact and intersect with the whole. What is our world made of but millions of small actions every moment?
What one person does – or doesn’t do – matters. What YOU do matters.
(My revised excerpt from 'Living the Great Work' in Circles of Transformation: Finding Our Way in the Great Work, Transformative Learning Centre, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.)
What is a transformative leader? Transformative leadership can't be described as one type of work or action because the re-orientation our world needs is so vast and comprehensive. And it needs to happen on several fronts simultaneously. We are transformative leaders when we question and dare to hold new visions of our institutions, scientific worldview and cultural paradigm. It happens when we we listen deeply to multiple perspectives and have conversions across difference. It occurs as courageous individuals tackle difficult questions of corporate social responsibility within troubled organizations and institutions, as they confront the dysfunctional nature of corporate cultures, and as they attempt to apply spirituality and whole-systems thinking to their work. And it happens as talented workers leave traditional organizations to create new structures, possibilities, alliances and different ways of working.
It occurs in the schools, on the streets, in our homes, and in our hearts. It happens both as we heal old personal traumas and as we turn our gaze outward in an attempt to heal the structures we live in. It occurs as we compassionately listen to each other, as we confront our own blind spots and refuse to shirk away from our own power. It occurs as we hope, dream, envision, falter, learn from our mis-steps and try again. It happens through small steps of caring and giving.
Transformative leadership is embodied in the protection and regeneration of life in all of its dimensions. Although we may be working in very different ways, ultimately, we are all working for and within the same organization – the organization of Life and the future of our world. And it is for that purpose that we must gather our energy, motivation and willingness to examine, experiment, change and find solace and inspiration in each other’s work.
Yes, we need courageous leaders to stand up to multinationals, to facilitate international movements, to initiate new institutions, to stand on podiums and inspire others… we need them to take the risks they take on behalf of the seeds, the water and for future generations. But these leaders alone cannot accomplish the kind of transformation that is needed.
What is required is that each of us takes leadership in our own lives, in our own families and sphere of influence. Small actions can and do make a difference – to our individual lives and to the way our lives impact and intersect with the whole. What is our world made of but millions of small actions every moment?
What one person does – or doesn’t do – matters. What YOU do matters.
(My revised excerpt from 'Living the Great Work' in Circles of Transformation: Finding Our Way in the Great Work, Transformative Learning Centre, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, University of Toronto.)
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