One of my first observations about the Davos program this year is the double-barreled titles of its themes: Growth and Stability, Crisis and Cooperation, Society and Security, Innovation and Industry.
Apart from the alliterative touch, I read this as enlightened acknowledgment of the fact that many of the leadership dilemmas today are in fact, false binaries.
It’s not EITHER – it’s BOTH.
It’s not OR – it’s AND.
ANDs require re-framing problems, balancing tensions, managing stakeholders, suspending judgment, digging deeper, reaching higher for solutions.
Leadership amongst diffused stakeholders – each with their respective constituents – is a complex coordination challenge. When world leaders operate without collective will and goodwill, they become inmates in a classic prisoner’s dilemma.
The new context requires a new litmus-test for leadership. Especially here in Davos where interaction and exchange is curated and catalyzed, the introspective question for any positional leader must be this:
How many ORs can I help convert to ANDs? How has my individual leadership contributed to collective leadership?
Here’s a random list of ‘duals’ that are often represented as trade-offs? How many more can you think of?
It’s growth and equality
It’s capitalism and social responsibility
It’s West and East
It’s ‘talentism’ and compassion
It’s monetary easing and structural reform
It’s government and businesses
It’s technology and sustainability
It’s shareware and proprietary
It’s representative government and delivery of outcomes
It’s unity and diversity
It’s integration and detachment
It’s bank safety and SME financing
It’s discipline and nimbleness
It’s control and innovation
It’s freedom of speech and respect for faith ….
Any more??
This article is published in collaboration with LinkedIn. Publication does not imply endorsement of views by the World Economic Forum.
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Author: Lutfey Siddiqi is a Member of Global Agenda Council & ‘New Champions’ Community, WEF
Image: A boy touches a 45-metre (148-feet) long wall lighted by colour rays at an exhibition hall in Wuhan, central China’s Hubei province May 1, 2007. Picture taken May 1, 2007. REUTERS.
