Where can a new leadership be found?
Two recent events where EBBF participated, the Tallberg Forum with Kofi Annan giving the opening welcome and where some 400 leaders from business, government and civil society as well as influential thought-leaders from over 60 countries meet in a calm and inspiring environment, and EBBF's own "creating the enterprise of the future" weekend where EBBF members from 15 different nations worked together to share the visions of the future and to then kick off projects that will take us closer to those visions.
I'd use two words to describe the main difference between the two events: "bravery" and "values".
Brave new leaders
Whilst at Tallberg the conversations in the breaks, at lunch and at dinner were truly awesome, inspiring, the keynotes offered a cacophony of opinions and ideas that often contrasted each other and offered no one clear way forward.
They probably offered a fair reflection of today's lack of bravery, what was lacking was the common holistic vision that could guide the discussions and solutions towards a common objective. But above all a lack of connection between the words, the deeds and deep values.
The CEO of an important European energy company was on stage, you'd imagine a strong and resolute man, instead a very defensive attitude was all he could offer when pressed on the question of how his company was addressing the issues of sustainability and consumption reduction.
You would have thought that company had no interest in that area, hence the lack of preparation of the CEO.
What a surprise to read on the Economist' edition of that same week, a full page ad by that same company focusing exclusively on their solutions for sustainability.
It does increasingly look as if too many of today's CEOs and leaders reach "the top" not because of their strong vision, but more thanks to a strong media team that guides their every word and action, aligning it with the opinions of either the shareholders or of society at large.
Values, what kind of values
The other marked difference between the EBBF "creating the enterprise of the future" weekend and the Tallberg Forum was the role of values.
At EBBF's weekend values were centre stage.
Indeed wise, spiritually driven values that call us to act in the interest of the common good was the strongest driver of that weekend's words and actions.In Tallberg values and in particular spirituality were seen as difficult topics to grasp and handle and better left to one side.
Interestingly enough when people are asked for the leaders they admire most three names frequently top that list: Ghandi, Martin Luther King and Nelson Mandela. You may guess the common source for the values and for the passion with which they communicated of the first two, but Nelson Mandela worded it beautifully: "Religion is one of the most important forces in the world. Whether you are a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, a Jew, or a Hindu, religion is a great force, and it can help one have command of one's own morality, one's own behavior, and one's own attitude.
The blend creating THE leader
The kind of leaders that will take us to a new world order are those with a combination of that bravery, supported and strengthened by deep holistic values. They will be inspiring enough to attract the best talent to their organisation and to lead them to success, because they will have created a meaningful work environment, one that looks at the present and future of their organisation also embracing the needs of the community that they operate in.
Their voice will sound strong, powerful and charismatic because their words will be sincere and originate from a deep part of ... ourselves - we can be that kind of leader, leading anything and anyone within our own environment of influence, regardless of how big or small it may be.
Daniel Truran
EBBF's Secretary General
