Catalytic Strategies for Socially Transformative Leadership: Leadership Principles, Strategies and Examples

Abstract

Transformative leadership is the process of consciously accelerating the evolution of global society. This paper provides an overview of initial research findings of the project on Global Leadership in the 21st century (GL21) initiated by WAAS in collaboration with the United Nations Office at Geneva, preparatory to a major conference at UNOG on October 27-28, 2020. The objective of GL21 is to identify fundamental principles of social transformation that can be consciously applied to accelerate progress on addressing global challenges and opportunities and to illustrate these principles by citing successful instances of significant transformative achievements in different fields of activity at the local, national and global level. GL21 is examining past and recent achievements of social transformation related to peace and disarmament, governance and human rights, economy and the environment, business and finance, the application of science and technology for social progress, global governance and rule of law, education and wellbeing. Through this project WAAS and UNOG seek to learn from humanity’s collective experience and convert that experience into codified principles of knowledge which can be more consciously and systematically applied in different fields and issues to accelerate global social evolution. The principles and examples cited in this paper are not new or unknown. Nor do they represent a complete and comprehensive approach to accelerating global progress. Each sheds light on a different aspect, dimension or element of a greater whole, steps and stages in the process of human accomplishment and social transformation. We may recognize each of them and know that we already know it. But in most cases we have not assembled the pieces mentally or fully understood their interrelationships with one another to form a knowledge of the whole process of social transformation or fully converted the rich knowledge they contain into powerful mental and practical instruments for universal application. The goal of GL21 is to forge a wider conception of the process of social transformation, to assemble a universal toolbox of effective, proven strategies and catalysts, and to illustrate how they can be applied to break the leadership logjam which presently prevents and retards global progress. Taken together we believe they confirm the premise that rapid, radical global progress on addressing the greatest challenges confronting humanity is possible here and now. Project GL21 examines many different types of leadership, of which outstanding individual personalities are the archetypal conception but not the only form. Effective leadership always transcends the actions of any one individual or small group. Leadership is a living social process that encompasses the whole society in which and on which it acts. It may be initiated by idealistic individuals, inspired by lofty ideas and values, and empowered by innovative organizations, but transformative leadership sooner or later influences the actions of a great many people and organizations and spreads until it becomes a broad-based social movement and eventually becomes institutionalized in the customs and culture of society. Outstanding individual leaders and the broad-based social movements are two complementary ends of the leadership spectrum. This paper examines the role of many different component elements, stages and instruments of the process of socially transformative leadership.

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