The Leadership the World Needs

Abstract

As society evolves in consciousness, the character of its leadership evolves as well. The physical stage of human development is characterized by the rule of physical strength and directed by military leaders with the capacity to mobilize and exercise physical force through violence. In the vital-social stage, leadership shifts to the authority of custom and law backed by a wealthy aristocratic elite which exercises power by virtue of its dominant position in the social hierarchy. The emergence of mentality makes possible a more equitable distribution of power to the masses and a transition to governance by laws and institutions based on principles of justice, ideas and universal values. The SDGs cannot be achieved by the UN alone or even by national governments. The problems of humanity today are global in nature, complex and inextricably interlinked. They can be effectively addressed only by a broad-based social movement that awakens the aspirations and releases the energies of the wider population. Such a movement can best be awakened and directed by the power of ideas based on a comprehensive and integrated knowledge of society and human potential. The risk of existential threats alone has thus far proven insufficient to effectively mobilize global society to concerted action. Humanity needs to be positively inspired by a vision of a better future for all, which has yet to be formulated. For developing nations, the goal should be total eradication of poverty and material prosperity for all. For advanced nations it should be a shift from the pursuit of material accumulation to ever higher levels of well-being and human development for all. Ideas founded on rationality and truthfulness espoused by a global leadership of individuals or organizations have the power to serve as the catalyst for that movement.