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La Trobe University: Sustainability and Climate ChangeWhat is wrong with leadership and why it needs to changeFebruary 28, 2011

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Why Sustainability and Climate Change are a Challenge

The problems of existence have become global but the decision-making structures

we have for dealing with them are national.

We cannot move forward without a high degree of global cooperation.

First Issue

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Why Sustainability and Climate Change are a Challenge

The challenges we face are not technical; they are issues of consciousness (values

and world views).

Second Issue

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Two Types of Problem*

Type 1: Convergent Problems…

…are about finding technical solutions by manipulating the material universe. After a while, and a few trials and errors, solutions tend to converge.

We can find technical solutions to global warming and sustainability, it is just a matter of time, resources and intelligence.

*E. F. Schumacher: A Guide for the Perplexed

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Two Types of Problem*

Type 2: Divergent Problems…

…are about finding agreements on divergent points of view that occur in the world of ideas, beliefs, world views and philosophies.

Divergent problems can only be solved by transcending the level of consciousness on which the opposites meet by moving to a higher level of meaning (consciousness).

*E. F. Schumacher: A Guide for the Perplexed

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Global Sustainability Issues

Pandemics

Climate Change

Global Economy

GlobalTerrorism

Poverty Reduction

Food Resilience

Natural Disasters

Energy Resilience

Species Extinction

WaterShortages

The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking that created them.

We need a new way of being together.

Pollution

Waste Disposal

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A New Leadership Paradigm

Private Sector

Social Sector

Public Sector

The paradigm that divides the world into the social sector, the private sector, and the

governmental sector is not working.

It creates artificial barriers. We are each a constituent of the problem, so we have to

combine our forces, our efforts, and our competencies.

Tex Gunning, Unilever, Best Foods Asia

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A New Leadership Paradigm

Private Sector

Social Sector

Public Sector

Average leaders take care of themselves and their families.

Good leaders take care of themselves, their families, and some of the community.

Great leaders—and great companies—not only take care of all stakeholders but also want to change the world.

They want to leave the world better than they found it.

Tex Gunning, Unilever, Best Foods Asia

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A New Leadership Paradigm

A shift in focus from “I” to “we”

A shift from self-interest to the common good

A shift from being the best in the world to the best for the world.

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Evolution of Personal Identity (Personal Consciousness)

Service

Making a difference

Internal Cohesion

Transformation

Self-esteem

Relationship

SurvivalSurvivingSelf as an individual in a physical body seeking to meet your physiological needs

ConformingSelf as member of a family or clan with a shared heritage or ethnicity

DifferentiatingSelf as a member or supporter of a group that aligns with your faith, interests, and/or political opinions

IndividuatingSelf as a member of a group that shares the same goals and values and celebrates and encourages your unique abilities and talents

Self-actualizingSelf as a member of a group that shares the same values/mission/purpose and direction

IntegratingSelf as a member of an affiliation of groups with shared values and a vision for the common good

ServingSelf as a member of the human race, living on Earth and embracing full spectrum sustainability

Evolu

tion

What ever we identify with we care for.

Psychological Evolution

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What can Evolution teach us about the New Leadership

Paradigm?

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The Universal Stages of Evolution

From the Big Bang … to the Present Day

Stage 1Entities learn how to become viable and independent in their frameworks of existence.

Stage 2 As life conditions become more complex, viable independent entities bond with each other to create a group structures.

Stage 3 Viable independent group structures then cooperate with each other to form a higher order entity.

Energy Atoms Molecules Cells Organisms Creatures Homo sapiens

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Evolution and Complexity

At each stage of evolution – from atoms, to cells, to creatures – there was not only an expansion in awareness, but also an expansion in the range of possible reactions or responses that an entity could make to changes in its internal or external environment.

Evolution: The continually unfolding ability to respond to increasingly complex life conditions.

An increase in external complexity demanded an increase in

internal complexity

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Stage 1:

Entities learn how to become viable and independent in their frameworks of existence.

Stage 2:

As life conditions become more complex, viable independent entities bond with each other to create a group structures.

Stage 3:

Viable independent group structures then cooperate with each other to form a higher order entity.

Particles/waves of information existing in a quantum energy field.

Carbon atom Molecules Cells

Eukaryotic cell Organisms Creatures

Homo sapiens Nations Humanity

The Universal Stages of EvolutionLevels

of

Bein

g

Evolution

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Priorities for Leadership Development

Stage 1: Personal Mastery

Overcoming the fears of the Ego to become viable and independent in your framework of existence

Stage 2: Internal Cohesion

Aligning the motivations of the Ego with the Soul (bonding) to become an authentic individual

Stage 3: External Cohesion

Cooperating with other individuals who share the same values and mission to leverage impact

Evolu

tion

Stage 1: Team Mastery

Overcoming the fears of individual Team membersTo minimize cultural entropy

Stage 2:Internal Cohesion

Aligning the motivations of Team members with the mission of the Team for team alignment

Stage 3:External Cohesion

Cooperating with other Teams who share the same values and vision

Stage 1: Personal Mastery

Overcoming the fears of individual Staff members to minimize cultural entropy

Stage 2:Internal Cohesion

Aligning the motivations of Staff members with the vision and values of the Organization

Stage 3:External Cohesion

Cooperating with other Organizations who share the same values and vision

Leading Self Leading Others Leading an

Organisation

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Evolution of Human Consciousness/World Views

H u m a n C o n s c i o u s n e s s

Stage 1

Stage 2

Stage 3

S t a g e s o f E v o l u t i o n

Stage 1:

Entities learn how to become viable and independent in their frameworks of existence.

Stage 2:

As life conditions become more complex, viable independent entities bond with each other to create a group structures.

Stage 3:

Viable independent group structures then cooperate with each other to form a higher order entity.

Values that focus on Self-interestIndividuals learn how to become viable and independent in their frameworks of existence.

Values that focus on Group CohesionViable independent individuals then bond with each other to create a viable independent group structure.

Values that focus on the Common GoodViable independent group structures then cooperate with each other to form a higher order entity.

Evolu

tion

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What this means for Business

Business is a wholly owned subsidiary of society and society is wholly owned subsidiary of the environment.

If we lose our environment and our life-support systems, our society will perish.

If we lose our society, we will lose our economy and our businesses will perish too.

Business leaders need to work with their competitors, political and societal leaders to define a framework of

policies that support the evolution of our global society by developing industry charters that regulate the rules

of competition between companies in a way that supports the societal common good.

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What this means for Politics

The problems of existence are global but the structures we have for dealing with them are national.

Political leaders must give up their parochial self-interest andexaggerated false belief in national sovereignty learn how to

solve the problems of existence through international cooperation and collaboration.

Building a sustainable future for everyone is not just societal imperative. It is business imperative, too.

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Ultimately, the problems of existence we face are issues of consciousness.

The crisis we face is a crisis of leadership.

We will only get beyond this stage of our collective evolution if we can put aside our narrow self-

interest, focus on the whole system, and build a values-driven framework of policies that support the

common good.

A Crisis of Leadership

Richard Barrett, The New Leadership Paradigm