For many, 2010 was a sobering and thought-provoking year, and the early months of 2011 have been little different. Never, perhaps, has humanity been so in need of profound, insightful leadership in all walks of life. And yet, we've fallen considerably short in meeting the need as individual and collective societies.
Reflecting on the significant challenges of the past year, and the growing buzz (or outright doomsaying) about the forthcoming challenges that humanity will face on many economic, social, and environmental fronts in 2011, we are struck by the fact that many of these issues come down to changing our attitudes toward what the Foundation terms "societal leadership".
Societal leadership is not yet another formulaic approach to learning leadership, but a call to change the way that we -- as individuals, communities, organizations, and nations -- think about the role of leadership in society. Equally important, societal leadership includes what responsibility we accept for changing the way our social fabric works.
Within effective societal leadership, there is no room for "us" versus "them".
Instead, we all are part of the complex environments that make society work for better or worse. When we don't accept our personal responsibility for the way the world functions around us, we give our tacit acceptance for the actions of others, whether these are bad or good. When the world is changing for the better, too many of us are complacent in accepting the "free ride" and letting others make the decisions. Similarly, when times get tougher, there are many cases of people who haven't been involved in social life now expecting someone else to provide the magic solutions to life's ills.
Taking Action
While we acknowledge that life is busy and it's sometimes difficult to get involved or keep up with events on all fronts, there are some simple steps you can take to challenge your own status quo as an individual:
1. Attend a community event. It's perhaps one of the simplest things you can do to start changing your perspectives and getting involved. Go to a community association meeting in your neighbourhood, attend a meeting of your local city or municipal council, or just go out to an event that an organization is hosting somewhere in your community. Take the time to say hello to someone, and ask about why they are attending. Share freely, and be open to the new ideas and perspectives you might be hearing.
2. If there's an election happening in your community, go and vote. Many take the right to vote for granted, as declining voter participation rates in most elections (particularly in more mature democracies) will attest. As part of this, make some effort to learn about the issues on the table, and to form your own viewpoint. You wouldn't buy a car without doing some comparison shopping and kicking the tires, so why would you elect a public official who will oversee your local taxes or make decisions on new laws and regulations without a similar level of due diligence?
3. Challenge yourself to get informed about what's happening around you. From your local newspaper to television, radio, and the vast information resources of the internet, there are no valid reasons why you can't learn something new each and every day. Pick an area of personal interest, and start exploring how you and others understand the issues at hand. Are there opportunities for you to get involved and change the way things work for the better?
4. Do something positive to help your world. Conserve water, help a social agency, or do a good deed for someone you don't know. While the issues we're facing can be overwhelming in scope and scale, many of the most effective responses begin with individual acts that add up to massive change. Take pride in the small things -- or the really big things -- that each of us can do to make our world a better place.
5. Get connected. When we try to make changes and act for the better, it's often a lonely experience. Getting connected to others who share similar interests in and passion for change can help to let you know that you're part of something bigger. A good place to start is local meetup groups on the subject. Or maybe you want to register yourself on a global action site like WorldChanging, and start connecting to the intellect and skills of others like you.
And, if you care to do so, share your experiences with us and others through our comments area, or even by becoming a guest blogger with us!
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