How did the world arrive at its current state of crises; Part 6 – Leadership

BY ERROL A. GIBBS

How did the world arrive at its current state of crises, despite exponential growth in the religions of the world, academia, human knowledge, scientific and technological achievements in engineering and medicines, and material and financial wealth? Can leadership help to manage or reverse the nature of the crises (Reference: Part 1. Paragraph 2.).

Enlightened leadership recognizes “…that all [people] are created equal; that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness” ― Thomas Jefferson (1743 – 1826) United States Declaration of Independence in Congress July 4, 1776.

Paradoxically, the male species occupy the vast majority of positions of leadership and authority in the world. When future civilizations examine the “flight recorder” from the wreckage of human history, it will reveal a male-dominated leadership that relegated (theoretically) fifty percent of the world’s population to their dictates. “Who is a leader, and what is leadership?”

Is leadership a function of gender, color, race, title, or position of authority? Many use the words “leadership” and “authority” synonymously, but one can have the authority bestowed by leadership, but he or she may not possess the essential qualities of a leader. Authority is inherent in leadership, but leadership is neither the enforcement of authority nor the demand for compliance. This type of leadership requires force, which produces an unwillingness to follow.

Positions of authority do play a part in leadership, but only by appointment. The essentials of leadership are its functions. Leadership is the exercise of moral duty, which considers color, race, culture, language, religion, nationality, and social and economic class. This leadership perspective can only come from a heart informed by a higher moral authority, underpinned by a “moral philosophy” (Reference Part 2 of 6. Paragraph 3 – 5).

A leader is an individual who also knows that servanthood and humility are the core attributes of leadership, but these two “foundational attributes” does not infer that leaders humiliate themselves or submit their authority to those who follow their lead. Leaders embody five foundations of human development — spiritual, moral, social, intellectual, and physical.

Leadership is a way of life and by example. Leaders provide unwavering service to those who follow. They define the vision, mission, goals, and objectives. They direct, motivate, teach, listen, encourage, participate, mentor, and reward their followers. Leaders make available equitable opportunities for human growth and development, and the highest ideals for the creation of a just society.

The primary goal of leadership, therefore, is to motivate and empower their followers as they recognize and strive to overcome all forms of human limitations (inherent, societal, and self-induced). They commission social equity panels to combat racism and other forms of systemic discrimination in public discourse and private corporations. Nations rely on elected political leaders as the bastion of human leadership, but politicians represent only a small group of leaders within a nation of religious ministers, teachers, professors, doctors, lawyers, police officers, parents, and family members who exercise acts of leadership in their daily interactions with others.

Despite the noble goals of leaders and the achievements of some of the great leaders in history (Reference: Great Achievements in History). Many fall short of the nobility of leadership. Some leaders exhibit conscious or subconscious prejudice against people with whom there is no common bond or heritage, and this has been the principal reason for the catastrophic downfall of nations throughout the ages.

A testament to leadership partiality is the 6000 years of record of the Holocaust, conquest, slavery, colonialism, genocide, apartheid, religious, territorial and racial wars, and social and economic injustice. Ancient history is replete with leaders who have sought to invade their neighbors for land and resources. They left trails of blood, death, extinction, and fear in their path. Paradoxically, history immortalized them as “great” leaders.

This measure of greatness is enigmatic. It undergirds the male-dominated leadership in each epoch — premodern, modern, and postmodern. Gratifyingly, postmodern leaders continue to evolve from autocratic to more widely informed and concerned principles of leadership.

From a national perspective, Western nations have written and amended their Constitutions, enacted Charters of Rights and Freedoms, and Civil Rights Acts. They have created Employment Equity Laws and formed Human Rights Commissions to provide rights and protection to the working class.

This is a defining moment of the twenty-first century. There is a spiritual, moral, social, intellectual, and physical imbalance in the world.  The world needs a higher understanding of leadership that comprehends the importance of race, religion, color, culture, gender, social, and economic status as first imperatives of leadership, but not just from political leadership prisms.

CONCLUSION: Part 1 – 6 — Preamble, Philosophy, Religion, Education, Authority, and Leadership provide only a broad philosophical perspective of challenges and a central solution perspective that underpins each part. It is now the duty of the academics, scientists, intellectuals, professors, and politicians, to analyze and understand the nature of the crises facing the postmodern world and engender positive solutions.