"Many of the world's problems and conflicts arise because we have lost sight of the basic humanity that binds us all together as a human family. We tend to forget that despite the diversity of race, religion, ideology and so forth, people are equal in their basic wish for peace and happiness." The Dalai Lama
Interdependent problems cannot be resolved by one group acting alone or in isolation. Therefore, a new notion of leadership and change is needed. Today, we need ‘global change agents’.
In "Leadership for a Fractured World: How to Cross Boundaries, Build Bridges, and Lead Change," author Dean Williams shares how to embrace 'change agent leadership'.
A global change agent…does not necessarily mean someone crisscrossing the globe solving world problems, but rather is anyone, at the local or international level, who has a broad mindset and is committed to making changes for the better.
Boundary-transcending work is a process of exploration, experimentation, and adventure - without any guarantee of success but the possibility of remarkable accomplishment.
Many boundaries today become barriers to discovering critical information needed for survival, addressing multifaceted problems, and responding to new realities. The work in providing leadership is to transcend the confining boundary by stimulating the creative process and thus helping the group discover something new - a solution to an intractable problem, creating an opportunity, an invention, or a way of living and working together.
The leadership challenge is to work with the group to help them see the potential value of transcending the boundary and engaging in creative work, while at the same time being honest with people about the possibility of loss or failure. Paradoxically, failure is an ingredient that can lead to success.
You try something, it fails, you learn from the failure, and you immediately shift direction and try something else. That process repeats itself over and over again until the group makes a useful discovery.
What are your own particular leadership challenges and what do you need to do to become a global agent of change?
Reference: Dean WIlliams: “Leadership for a Fractured World: How to Cross Boundaries, Build Bridges, and Lead Change.”
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