Leadership is the Problem of the 21st Century

I would like to start this opinion article by arguing that the world is going bananas….

I truly believe that leadership is the problem of the twenty first century. As society at large and citizens we used to believe in leaders and trusted them to guide us in steering our lives and finding the right direction.

My motivation to write this opinion article came from this morning news ( 29/08/17 ). I was in the gym in the early morning and saw the news about South Korea sending a missile over Japan. My conclusions and first thoughts were; there is something wrong with the world…

The accumulation of past events, catastrophic episodes and accidents leads me to think that our world is going in the wrong direction. Currently we experiencing examples of corrupt and/or dictatorial leaders, regular extremism attacks, Islamophobia, the re-rising of Neo-Nazis and more horrifying events and episodes which keep costing innocent lives.

Fundamentally leadership is the bottom line issue and the cause of many of these present and future preventable deaths. If this keeps progressing as such I predict that world war three will be upon us very soon.

In the corporate world true leadership is overlooked regularly. Organizations need to view leadership in a complete different way. Presently leadership is moreover conquered by years of service, status positions and even age and gender. This in many cases leads to inflexible, authoritarian and conversation def “managers” rather than strong, thoughtful and humble leaders. Now more than ever there is a need for change and update leadership to become based on different skill sets and attributes that are people centred. Leading and driving people is not a task that suits everybody. An unbiased and people centred belief system I would argue necessary.

After some time to reflect this morning, I concluded that people, as stated before, used to believe in- and trusted their leaders but are now looking for something different. They are looking for change, even though most of the time unaware of what that is. An example is the poor state of politics around the world, with as outstanding example the United States of America. People were searching for radical changes, and placing their hopes in a leader that loudly promised to deliver on that change. Unfortunately, these people are often let down by the way leaders act out. The person who shouts the loudest is not always the most knowledgeable. By following these screams one comprises on the most important human values such as respect, tolerance and trust, creating no better place but a worse one.

A few days ago, this same leader made an incredibly unfortunate decision to provoke and incentivize a potential new nuclear war. An incident not standing on its own. Other similar leaders have and will respond in an inappropriate and provocative manner to a various of world changing and critical issues, leaving the worlds populations sincerely concerned and vulnerable.

In conclusion, I would like to see leaders chosen by their ability and integrity, potential personal attributes to serve others. It's not about power, age and status as we are witnessing right now. The leaders’ persona of the past does not work any longer. Therefore, a new approach to define leadership is much needed. This innovation around leadership is a must to the benefit of society at large and the world.

Best regards,

Joao