James Strock
The cliché is that every day should be Earth Day.
We’ve all become more attuned to the ways in which all of our actions–individually and collectively–can create environmental costs.
In the nature of things, we also have more opportunities to serve and lead as environmental stewards.
21st century environmental leadership is emerging in distinctive ways from its 20th century antecedents.
Once again, Watergate analogies are in the air. Though they may be overdrawn, there are important lessons that remain evergreen from a historic, catastrophic leadership breakdown at highest level. These lessons are as familiar as Shakespeare or the Bible—and as pertinent as ever in the new world of 21st century leadership.
One major change: the rapid denouement of the Nixon presidency—from electoral triumph to dissolution in less than two years—would be greatly accelerated in today’s Internet age.
Serve to Lead is about the new world of 21st century leadership.
There are a number of blogs that I admire and learn from as I strive to advance my service. My take on the best is presented below, updated for 2018.
The list that follows includes entries focused on specific applications and competencies, as well as general leadership-related blogs.
Blogging is an evolving phenomenon. It enables individuals and teams and organizations and an array of stakeholders to interact and create value in untold ways.
For some, blogging may be a daily or weekly exercise. For others, it may be less frequent or regular, more in the nature of monthly or quarterly periodicals. Blogs are increasingly crafted with an eye toward making them “evergreen,” timely over time. The emphasis on providing immediate responses has, increasingly, moved toward creating a living resource.
A key aspect of blogging is that its permutations are infinite. For some time, they tended to be stand-alone entities. Communities might arise around the essays and comments. More recently, the rise of sophisticated bots, the time-suck of trolls, and the increasing interconnections of social media have prompted change.
Blogs are, increasingly, a personalized resource and gateway into the writer’s chosen array of social media channels. Thus one sees some using Facebook, Quora, Twitter or other venues as their primary ongoing communication, tethered to blogs. Some primarily write; others primarily curate; most create a personalized mix of the two.
Through the links below, one can enter the ecosystems of many outstanding teachers and practitioners. The list below extends from blogging to social media and new media generally.
Please send your ideas for additional or alternative selections or categories. As is customary in the 21st century, this is offered as a living document, a work in progress.
Thank you for your service.
–JMS
credit | John Pannell | Creative Commons 2.0
This article is written by Professor Jamie Anderson, Antwerp Management School, and Dr Babita Mathur-Helm, University of Stellenbosch Business School.
***
Given the recent change of leadership in South Africa, it is time to reflect upon the legacy of Africa’s first black president—Nelson Mandela.
At a time of so much social change, not just in South Africa but in so many countries around the world, there is a lot of talk about the leadership traits that will be required to drive positive outcomes for humanity in the 21st Century.
We believe that the focus on leadership at this time of volatility and uncertainty is somewhat misplaced—the real challenge will be to inspire humanity towards following a path to peace and prosperity for all. And Nelson Mandela’s story provides insight into how building and sustaining a follower-driven movement can be achieved.
In this post we reflect upon the legacy of Nelson Mandela. We demonstrate how Mandela was able to build and sustain a followership base as part of creating momentum towards achieving positive social transformation. He was able to evolve a remarkably consistent approach to delivering what we see as the three pillars of a followership, and each of these pillars will be discussed in turn. We will demonstrate how Mandela’s story provides a powerful lesson for global leaders who are looking to create momentum for positive change in today’s turbulent and complex times.
Tintoretto, Self-Portrait ca. 1588. Licensed under Public Domain via Wikipedia.
This piece is written by Professors Joerg Reckenrich and Jamie Anderson of the Antwerp Management School. More information and links to the authors can be found below.
##
In today’s complex world, a leader’s ability to drive creativity and innovation is an essential skill. Leaders need to identify emerging customer trends, drive the creation of new products and services, and continuously push for novel and effective ways of doing things.
While the ability to think creatively and to innovate is a requirement for all contemporary leaders, in this post we step back to 16th Century Venice to demonstrate that Creative Leadership spans industries and epochs. We tell the story of Tintoretto, a true innovation leader who was able to challenge the dominant position of his competitor and Art Grand Master Titian.
James Strock