September - October 2007

There is now, I think, a growing consensus that what the world needs now - at all levels and in all fields - is 'good leaders and leaders for good'. A Priority is to invest far more in leadership development for young people - the leaders of tomorrow. By 'far more' I have in mind the figure of 20 billion dollars over the next ten years. Did you know that half the world's population is under the age of 25? Don't they deserve some help, encouragement and inspiration from us?

That calls for a new vision among those who are now coming into senior leadership roles, both at national and global levels. Such senior leaders themselves, however, need opportunities to explore the nature of their new roles as humankind leaders. For they will need not only vision, knowledge and skill, but also that quality which the ancient Greeks called phronesis, practical wisdom. Practical wisdom, incidentally, is something you and I need too in our own journeys as leaders. It is a compound of three elements: intelligence, experience and goodness.

Quotable Quotes

'When the blind lead the way, woe to those who follow.'
Honduras proverb

'We cannot be taught wisdom, we have to discover it ourselves by a journey which no one can undertake for us, an effort which no one can spare us.'
Proust

'No man is wise enough by himself.'
Plautus