Why We Desperately Need Responsible Leadership in All Walks of Life
How to come together and move mountains
We have been asking ourselves why we don’t learn from our past since the beginning of time. Many have written about it.
The survivors of misfortune have gone to great lengths to write about their experiences, hoping that others will learn from their lessons.
I’m thinking about leaders such as Nelson Mandela, Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi, Malala Yousafzai, and other less famous but certainly no less important people. Extraordinary people.
The sad but true reality is that history is full of stories of human excesses, such as violence, greed, cruelty, anger, but above all addiction. When I say addiction, I don’t only mean the classical concept involving alcohol, smoking and drugs, but the equally treacherous kinds such as consumerism, power and ideology and the risks related to social media and technology.
Thankfully, history also recounts positive stories of selflessness, generosity, kindness and morally responsible behaviour.
The scale of challenges people are facing around the world is unprecedented. The pace of change is overwhelming, driven by the paradigm of growth, rapid development of new technology and the (perceived) decline of commonly accepted values.
So why do we forget lessons from history even though they are well documented?
If only the answer was so easy. I think if we knew why, I wouldn’t be writing this article and we would be better off than we are now.
Change is part of life itself so you would think that evolution would have hot-wired us to be able to handle it. And to a certain degree we have a high capacity to put up with the unexpected. It’s called resilience.
Human suffering can be hard to swallow so we try our best to avoid it. This includes the suffering of others. That’s not to deny that many do their bit to reduce suffering by standing up for those in need. Their efforts are highly laudable. But it takes a special kind of strength to run towards the burning fire.
Then why do we resist change?
You would think that human beings would reject violence and anything which poses an existential threat to their integrity. But there are many other factors at play. Human beings are complex. For example, we tend to learn lessons best when we experience them ourselves. Otherwise, we’re just taking someone else’s word for it. We also have to trust the person or entity talking. This piece lays out some of the typical reasons for resistance to change. And change is a key factor at all levels, from the individual up to communities, institutions and finally at the global level.
There is an old saying which sums it all up: “Better the devil you know than the devil you don’t”.
Some studies have shown that having more choice can result in no action at all, caused by confusion. Then there is all the research about how to change one’s habits. This is closely related to discussions about addiction.
My take is that human beings choose different types of addiction (whether it is to something physical, thereby eschewing eschatological considerations, or even something ethereal). Why? Because doing something mindlessly requires using up less internal memory, which can then be used for other matters.
All my (professional) life I’ve wondered about change. In the beginning (and to some extent still now), I rather naively believed that people would learn their lesson from situations of human suffering. I didn’t lose hope even in the face of extreme misery. But with time, I developed a genuine interest in what drove people to change (or not). I started to read about learning, persuasion and how to change people’s behaviour.
But I was often asked the question: “Why should I care when others do not?” This sends us down an ‘Alice-in-Wonderland’-type rabbit hole to the realm of philosophy, historical enquiry and existential questioning. Sociologists, religious leaders, psychologists and politicians (among others) have long been looking into this question. How do people and societies change and (how) can we play a role?
Some put our resistance to change down to human nature, in all its forms. Others blame external factors, from existing political and economic models, to our upbringing, level of education, behaviour of others or even financial reasons.
But perhaps the most frustrating reply given to why people don’t change their lives to address complex social issues is: “I can’t change anything alone, so why bother?”
In fact, people have a tendency to change only when they really have to.
We naturally try to make our lives easier. Then when we get to that next position of supposed comfort, we need a really big incentive (actual or imminent disaster or other such unexpected phenomenon) to consider changing.
The excuses we come up with
The truth is that change is tough. It’s a downright killjoy. We have to make huge efforts to change our routines, swim against the current, put our friendships at risk, break sweat over an unknown future, lose money, lose face. But that is a short-term perspective and as the saying goes, ‘no pain no gain’. If we fail to view issues from different angles and perspectives, we cannot hope to address complex issues.
We have faced such issues throughout history and will no doubt continue to do so in the future. Even if in recent times we have placed great hope in the paradigms of consumerism, progress, growth, innovation and technology, we will constantly be striving for something more.
The price of our actions
Despite the short-term positive feelings of instant gratification (and delayed change), this can result in longer-lasting negative consequences. To get over it will be at great personal and collective cost, but in the long term this is what is required. The price of maintaining the status quo is self-destruction not to mention the cost to those around us, our fellow human beings and our planet.
Our actions have consequences.
The problem with the self-centred attitude to change is that if we all say that, certainly nothing will change.
And by the time we get to that stage, it’s often too late and measures we have to take to compensate for our initial shortcomings are all the more extreme.
We have a strange urge to satisfy our curiosity (not only cats are to blame here!) and have a propensity towards voyeurism, interest in evil and stories of power, violence and human frailty. Our own demand for this feeds the film industry and media outlets but is also driven by them.
Think back to when you studied history at school. How much more importance was given to historical figures who acted differently — ones who played up, who carried out huge massacres, took horrible decisions and created huge inequality? To my recollection, the ones who ensured peaceful times were passed over as ‘uninteresting’ periods. As humans, we love to witness and scrutinise imperfections and anomalies.
Why is change important?
We have come full circle again: Why should I change? What’s in it for me?
Well, the truth is it’s not all about us — it is said that if anyone kills a person it is as if that person killed the whole world. What hope is there for society if we don’t think about our fellow human beings?
I think it would be safe to say that all extremes have their risks. But we humans tend to like extremes as I stated above.
If we keep waiting for others to change and play the blame game, we will get nowhere. Why would others change if we are not prepared to do the same? By setting the good example, we ignite an unstoppable chain reaction.
Change is possible
The time has come to recapture the value of moderation. To not glorify zeal and greed at all levels of the social ladder. To embrace simplicity.
Let us focus on what binds us together, our flesh and blood, our sinews, our brilliant minds and lay the path towards integrity, moral responsibility and decent behaviour.
This doesn’t have to be boring. It doesn’t have to veer our collective vehicle of humanity towards the other extreme of ruthless competition or monotonous routine.
Let us celebrate our collective strength, our amazing planet, our fellow human beings.
Instead of blaming, complaining and despairing, let us stand up and lead by example.
We all have an immense power and capacity to change, not only ourselves but also the world. If we don’t take a chance because we are paralysed by fear, we will certainly stay where we are. And I don’t mean in the consumerist growth sense. I mean in the sense of individual and collective growth.
Positive change is infectious. Instead of giving up, let us show the way by making the first move.
Look in the mirror every morning. Ask yourself, what am destined for today?
Look into the eyes of your family members, your friends, your colleagues? What weird yet wonderful specimens we are. Ask them how they are. Care.
Finally, believe that your small actions can make a huge difference. You may not see the consequences right away, but if we move collectively, we can do much more than on our own.
Inasmuch as we have great capacity for evil, the same applies to good.
Let us decide to take that difficult step, take the path less trodden, to save the icing until after eating the cakey bit we may not like as much. Instead of grabbing what we can, let us hold back, observe and contemplate the consequences of our actions.
If we stop thinking about others, what hope does our society have? Certainly, we can strive to be one of those who doesn’t have to worry, to rely on others, to be afraid. But I believe that we can have enough to be satisfied and leave enough for others. Not out of pity but out of fairness. Who made any of us better than others? Only our (selfish) selves. The reality is that we are all equally imperfect.
If we don’t lead, who will?
Light at the end of the tunnel
We all have the power in our toolboxes to make change happen. To stand up and say no. To change our behaviour. To go against the current. To decide to stop. To decide to start.
If we don’t, we are denying our humanity, the future of our offspring, the legacy of future generations.
So let’s stop blaming it on those who take us to places we would rather not visit. It is up to all of us, and each of us has the power, to stand up and make that change.
My teenage daughter (my inspiration) made it crystal clear to me recently on the way to school — change starts with us. If we don’t make the first step ourselves, nothing will change. We cannot change everything alone, but if we all make a step in the right direction, together we can move mountains.
You can read more on my website: https:/www.johnstrick.com.
