Leadership Notes -- Thoughts on Leading People and Making a Difference in Organizations

Word count this issue: 365

Estimated reading time:  3:15 minutes

Hello from a cold and clear winter’s day in Vancouver. I wrote last week that the emerging new world begins with us.  

“The best responses will come from within ourselves, individually and collectively, as we grow in self-awareness, connectivity with each other, courageous perseverance, learning and disruptive spirituality. Each and every one of us is a gift to each other, and together we can imagine and co-create a better world for ourselves, our children and grandchildren. It will begin with us.”

Importantly, the world will change without us as well. We do have a fundamental choice; we can choose compassion, caring and collaboration, or we can choose narcism, exclusion and force as our basic ethics. My friend and sometime collaborator Quanita Roberson http://www.nzuzu.com/our_team gave me a new insight into choice the other day. She was saying that ‘we too often think of such choice as a ‘Mama’s choice’; there’s an obviously right choice, and an obviously bad choice. The choice we are each given is not a Mama’s choice.’ 

The world will continue, for good or ill, regardless of our choice. What that world looks like however does depend on us. 

We went to see Rogue One last night, and I kept seeing this choice reflected in the film, and the word that kept appearing in the script about this choice was “hope.” The choices we make today will bring hope to our children and grandchildren or they will bring fear.

We humans are that much closer to curing many cancers. We humans are building economic strength in more and more places in the world. We humans are educating more of us each year. We humans are making such a positive difference in so many ways, there is hope. And, we are threatened by a rising “Mordor” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mordor based on fear, self-centredness and greed. The world will continue, how it will continue is up to us.

What is your choice, and what is the first step you will take?