Weekly Reflections. 8 August

On my mind this week.

I sometimes think leadership has gone missing. As I've listened to the news and spoken with people worldwide, all facing different versions of the challenges we all face, the same issue keeps cropping up - the people and places we look to for leadership have become pale shadows of what we need. 

I do not think it is because they are all deficient in some way - they are bright, committed people; otherwise, we would not have put them where they are. I think it is more that the structures we have created were designed for a different time, when centralisation, scale, and hierarchies delivered what followers needed.

That time is long gone, and scale has meant that the centre is now a very, very long way from the edge where the action happens. A leader's first and foremost responsibility is to ensure the safety and wellbeing of those she leads given the conditions they face. Being a long way from where those followers make that a huge challenge. Firstly, the privileges t…