Personal Leadership

We need our leaders to be willing to make the journey to an increasingly global worldview - the journey from me, to us, to all of us. But we must not make the mistake of projecting the need for leadership out onto the world - we too must make the journey from me to us to all of us so that we can respond effectively to the challenges of the deeply interconnected world we inhabit. Tim Macartney writes powerfully about this in his book Finding Earth, Finding Soul: The Invisible Path to Authentic Leadership:

It is now with the people. It is with us. We are called to become leaders. No matter that you and I feel woefully unprepared. It doesn't matter. We have to get involved. Business could become the power that heals, but we can't wait to find out. [...] Maybe long ago, snug beneath your duvet, you childishly imagined that you were called to defend your people and perform deeds of great valour. It's not a dream. You have been called. You are on notice. The time is now, and it's not childish, and the duvet is about to be ripped away. If the body is willing but the mind demands to know under whose flag you are called to stand, then let the answer be the children, or the meadows in which you have made love, or if all else fails, your pride. History is peopled by many men and women who found their calling and courage the day the storm clouds gathered and the enemy seemed strong beyond imagining. As Gandalf said to Frodo:

All you have to do is to decide how you will use the time that you've been given.