News > Midyear Update: June 2003

Mark Gerzon, President, Mediators Foundation

Our current work in global leadership is part of a groundswell of moral energy that is emerging throughout the world. The war in Iraq was further evidence that we have not yet, as a species, managed to develop a strong, compelling code of global leadership. My colleagues and I have reached the conclusion that we need new kinds of leadership, and new ways of fostering such leadership throughout the world. Like-minded people from all over the world can make a difference by (a) developing and articulating a new vision of global leadership, and (b) establishing education and training programs that foster this new vision in the emerging generations.

If you agree with our approach, you will probably encounter the same questions that we have: What is this new vision of global leadership? Who can define it? How will we know it is truly global? And even if it is, how will it be transmitted throughout the world and have an impact on the way humanity deals with conflict?

Our firm belief is that the only process by which such questions can be answered is to form a team, or network, or community of the best thinkers, practitioners, and trainers about leadership from around the world and focus their energies on answering these questions. After many conversations with practitioners from all over the world, we are exploring five promising arenas for action:

TRAINING. We are exploring with several colleagues around the world the feasibility of a training that would enable those who experienced it to think and act more globally. This training would be made available to individuals and organizations. We are currently in conversation with the Art of Leadership training, which has already provided their training to several hundred activists in social justice and environmental organizations; the Bridging Leadership Task Force, which has delivered a training in various parts of the world; Civic Exchange in Hong Kong, which has developed pioneering methods for fostering dialogue and civic engagement among an extremely diverse population; and the Network for Human Development in Brazil, which has created a media-based network for empowering women; and The Caribbean Leadership Institute, which is taking the lead in developing leadership training models that emerge from post-colonial histories like the Caribbean.

GLOBAL ISSUES. In conversation with Generon Consulting, as well as other colleagues in the field of “multistakeholder dialogue,” we are exploring how to develop an intensive process in which those involved in critical issues can become more effective at solving problems that have global implications. This is a more “targeted” approach to the challenge of global leadership because it focuses on small groups of influential decision-makers rather than broad training strategies.

CONSULTING. We are in dialogue with several partners in Europe, Hong Kong, and South Africa and elsewhere about building a team that would consult to organizations from a global perspective. Many institutions, both private and public, now find themselves under pressure to operate across borders in ways that require a much deeper capacity for global leadership. While there are many consulting companies that offer counsel on increasing “global business effectiveness,” we are exploring a different model: a values-based approach based on promoting responsible global citizenship.

EDUCATION. We are also exploring new strategies for promoting global leadership in education, both at the university level and in elementary and secondary school. We are in the process of learning more about the International Schools Connection, a seven-country consortium in Europe, North and Central America, working to develop a global leadership curriculum; the East Asian Regional Council of Schools, with whom I will be working in Kuala Lumpur later this year; and with the Center for Leadership and Public Values, based at the University of Cape Town and Duke University, with whom I met in April. The Bridging Leadership Task Force also includes an impressive network of universities on three continents, and I will be exploring this idea with them as well.

NETWORK. We are also exploring convening a small meeting involving all these emerging elements in the “global leadership” terrain. Like any emerging paradigm, it is important to explore how all these disparate elements fit together. Walter Link, president of the Global Academy, shares our interest in developing an integral vision of global leadership which includes education, training, policy, and consulting. One of the groups who shares an interest in this is as well is Pioneers of Change, a network of social change agents in their late 20s and 30s who have worked diligently over the past several years to develop such a cross-border community among their generation. I met this group in London in April, and found great excitement and synergy with them.

Many of these pioneers in the field of global leadership have never met each other. Yet each of them is part of an extensive regional or global network that would benefit immensely from exposure to each other. Collectively, once assembled, they would be able to map the institutions and networks around the world that are currently at work defining and developing new models of cross-border leadership. I firmly believe that, working together, we could catalyze a vision of global leadership which would provide a vision of hope and possibility at a time of great despair, violence and polarization.

In July and August, we will host the first meeting of the Global Leadership Network to explore these possibilities outlined above. They will come together not only to develop a shared framework for global leadership, but to begin applying that framework to some of the most pressing leadership challenges of the time. Please view the PROJECTS section for more information.

Finally, after three years of research, a draft of my new book Leaders Beyond Borders: The Global Leadership Revolution is complete. An excerpt is available on our website, and the entire book is available via e-mail. If you are interested in receiving a copy, please contact my assistant Rick Snyder at rickstar777@yahoo.com.

Mediators Foundation is a tax exempt educational foundation based in Massachusetts. The foundation can be reached by calling Dallas Gale, Financial Administrator, 9 Bowser Road, Lexington, MA 02420-2105. (Ph: 781-863-5319) DallasG592@aol.com For further information, please visit www.mediatorsfoundation.org.