Well, I hope that those of you in Canada had a wonderful long weekend. It certainly was for me. We got lots done on the opening of the cottage front and I discovered a lemon meringue pie gelato that will be the death of me, I’m quite sure! And I found myself reflecting on how important everyday people are in our society, and sadly, how often we leave so much of the work to elites, pundits and self-described experts. Perhaps it’s related to our conversation last week about the death of the “great man model”? In the midst of all of our connectivity, our ability to be connected to each other across vast distances, we seem to be leaving the important work on issues to others. It's like we have a collective sense that some things are “above our pay grade” as they say in spy movies.

But there is very good news in the coming generation; the group Romeo Dallaire, who I heard speak on Friday, describe as the ‘global generation’. These are a generation of people who are in fact connected with each other in ways their parents are not; connected digitally across vast distances. Now one challenge is that they, like their parents still seem to group together with like minds; the progressives, the conservatives, the goths and the punks. But there is a ray of hope that we might find a generation that can bridge divides of culture, if not of geography.

From a leadership perspective, I urge those of us not yet online to get connected digitally. Follow people on Twitter, connect on Facebook, get connected on Linked In and start to talk with each other across generations and cultures. We may not always agree, but we’ll certainly learn something new. I especially urge you to also get interesting Apps on your smart phone or tablet; Al Jazzeera for example has a great news app that will give you an often different perspective on the news. And if you’re a progressive, follow a conservative Twitter, and vice versa. Perhaps then we can move away from leaving decisions to the elites,  pundits, and self-describe experts, and return to learning and deciding for ourselves.