Heal to Lead

4Why Now?

BETWEEN A DEEPLY introspective period when we all came face to face with the reality of our lives, an anti-oppression movement spurred by the murder of George Floyd, basic human rights being stripped away from us on both national and state levels in the United States, genocide in the Middle East, and climate change flooding our front doors or burning them down, it's no wonder why so many of us have been brought to the breaking point.

Organizational leaders are inundated with the (rightful) demands of employees and customers, sociopolitical concerns, environmental responsibility, and profitability—whether there are shareholders to answer to or not. And many are without an understanding of how they became who they are in their leadership role, or what's needed to influence change more effectively.

Operating within antiquated systems are the command-and-control leaders who could have changed the trajectory of our world—but made decisions not to do so. They are now starting to feel the force of revolution amid a major paradigm shift. Some leaders have started to wake up and realize that there has to be a better, more viable way forward. But let's be clear: we have a very long way to go before we can associate stewardship with leadership. Stewardship is in the careful tending of something that has been entrusted to us. It's the responsibility to maintain, protect, and nourish all beings under our care. While this is not at all how we currently think of leadership, we can ...