It is 11:35am. I have a commitment to post this before 2pm today. No pressure.

Caveat; taking the brakes off – I do not know where this is heading…

I have been wrestling with a number of thoughts over the last week. Some of them pretty bleak, and out of this I am looking to pull something forwards-looking and ‘positive’ – whatever that means (how do we know a-priori?).

My Sons – like I think many young people their age – are unable to ‘launch’ by heading out into their own living arrangements on their own terms. This is for no other reason than the cost of housing is through the roof – almost everywhere. There is no mainstream discussion of the underlying causes, just treatment of symptoms. How is it that affordable housing all but dried up?

How is it that inflation is so high? How come all that is proposed is more interest-rate hikes which hurt those with the most limited resources whilst doing nothing to address the scarcity that is driving up prices? To say nothing of ‘scarcity as a tool’ to inflate prices and drive profits? And the instability in the world which adds a further dynamic and is part of the spiral of ‘influence following money’? We could debate all of this without changing anything. The basic conclusions I have is that something is seriously off. Anyone who has read my other posts on the limits-to-growth etc… will be familiar with my views here.

Which leads to a conversation about power.

This last weekend I went on a retreat of sorts, partially to answer a question about what activism looks like for me going forwards. I have concluded it is not enough to oppose (although that is stupendously important); there must be a new story, a new view to pro-pose.

Which brings me to Leadership.

We live inside an invented system where the domain of ‘big decisions’ has been passed to a (theoretically) accountable political class. The, generally unspoken, social contract is something like – the political class, in the form of a government, act to keep us (the citizenry) safe and promote our wellbeing. In return we loan them power. The ‘state’ that is so created raises taxes to implement policies, and maintains a monopoly on coercive force, which we, through submitting to this contract, agree is in the interests of our general wellbeing. It is a system. Our ancestors tried many others (read ‘The Dawn of Everything’ – please. [1]) and it just so happens that this one in its many flavours (from ‘democratic’ to ‘autocratic’) is what currently runs the majority of the world. Its marriage with Capitalism is arguably downright toxic.

It is well documented how money and its influence have distorted even the most ‘democratic’ institutions[]. How can an individual or group without financial resources effectively challenge and counteract decisions that stem from a system that demonstrably harms the interests of life?

One answer is non-violent civil disobedience. To be in Rebellion. It is important. It has a proud and long history. It works. (Gandhi, Martin Luther King Jr., Nelson Mandela, the fall of the Berlin Wall…). Those that have stood in opposition to the destruction of the last old-growth forest in BC have been subjected to documented police violence and in the last 3 years over 1,200 arrests[]. It has driven the issue to the forefront of debate in BC. I believe this and similar action is and will be crucial in turning the tide toward a more just, compassionate and sustainable world.

For the many unsustainable systems that are causing untold damage to continue to exist, they require mechanisms that sustain their existence. Not unlike the patterns of our egos that convince us that other possibilities do not exist outside of what they know, thus sustaining themselves. The most dangerous thing to these systems is (and incidentally also to our egos), I believe all tied up in one concept; Leadership.

There is a massive literature on Leadership. Our documented history largely focusses on individuals who are deemed to ‘have it’ and thus be of special importance and influence. This promotes a myth that either ‘you have it or you don’t – and most of you don’t’. However I think of leadership as something that everyone has, but is a muscle which does not consciously get exercised. And like any muscle, it can be developed. And once developed – then who knows what it can do?

I ran a workshop of business people a while back before Covid, entitled ‘If you are not Leading your life, someone or something else is.’ I think it is a good and pertinent title. It begs the question – ‘What does it mean to Lead?’.

In my view, ‘Leadership’ has three constituents; Vision, Agency and Willingness. Vision – a sufficiently detailed image of a desired future state. Agency – a belief that I can act so as to increase the possibility of that vision being realized. Willingness – a commitment to act. It does not mean I have to know how. It does not even say anything about how reasonable or achievable that future state is. It also does not say anything about other people. However, if to create a vision, the support of others is required, then to be effective as an agent of that vision there are conversations to be had to enroll other people in the vision to amplify your agency. That’s it. The most effective people to have enrolled in your vision are those who are also developing their Leadership; their Vision, Agency and Willingness. Those people are amplifiers.

My experience of those who develop their Leadership is they are extraordinarily caring humans. The work needed to develop the faculties of Vision, Agency and Willingness brings them into deep connection with their own humanity, and our off-the-charts (in the animal kingdom) empathy and altruism; in short being of service to others.

What is clear to me is that what we (Hom. Sap.) need in abundance now are Leaders.

This has been a long way to come around to my revelation from my weekend retreat. What there is for me to do is devote my energies to supporting others in discovering and nurturing their Leadership. I know I am not alone in doing this work – and I believe that it is further animating the unstoppable force that holds our collective future; I trust one that we can all get excited about creating. I do not like the way this one is going. It is time to create something else.

15Mar23

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[1] ‘The Dawn of Everything: A New History of Humanity’ – David Graeber and David Wengrow, 2021. New York, Farrar, Straus and Giroux.

[2] ‘When Corporations rule the World’ David C. Korten. West Hartford, Conn. : San Francisco, Calif., Kumarian Press, 1995.

[3] ‘B.C. highway blockades over old-growth logging aimed at forcing a dialogue, activists say’ Globe and Mail, 3rd May 2022 – viewed at: https://www.theglobeandmail.com/canada/british-columbia/article-bc-highway-blockades-over-old-growth-logging-aimed-at-forcing-a/#:~:text=The%20RCMP%20have%20made%20nearly,harvesting%20licence%20in%20the%20area.