High-Level Expert Group Meeting
10-11 May 2000
Harvard University, Cambridge, Mass. U.S. A.
Co-chaired by Helmut Schmidt and Abdel Salam Majali
Leadership is largely the art of mobilizing or inspiring
people to achieve certain goals, whether at local,
national, or international levels. Enlightened leadership
contains some aspects that can be universal; other aspects
frequently depend on cultural and institutional context;
and some exist in tension with other desirable
characteristics.
Core Aspects of Responsible and Enlightened
Leadership
1. A key element of leadership is the determination to
change society in a way that will benefit society as a
whole; this element, however, is balanced by a need, in
democratic society, to respond appropriately to the
expressed will of the people. Similarly, accountability
and transparency of decision-making should be central to a
responsible leader's mission.
2. Leadership is not necessarily about the actions of
people in positions of political power; a meaningful
discussion of leadership must encompass the participation
of those in society who hold positions of advocacy and who
draw their influence primarily from moral persuasion.
3. Leadership must be judged in its political, social,
historical, legal, and cultural context. Leaders are
products of a particular society at a particular time, and
face a 'changing moral yardstick' against which they must
measure their achievements as their societies evolve.
4. The best leaders are those who achieve beneficial
results in their own societies. Leaders may also be
judged, however, on the means they use to reach those ends
and the impact of those ends on others outside the
leader's constituency. Leaders will often lack the
self-reflection necessary to determine a priori which
goals are sufficiently 'good' to merit the questionable
means used to attain them.
5. While the elements of a responsible decision may be
opaque, some elements of responsible decision-making may
be made more concrete. Choices leaders make may be judged
according to the disinterestedness of their motives; their
understanding of a situation's complexities; their
consideration of 'unintended' but foreseeable consequences
of action; and the sources of advice to which the leader
looks for support.
6. An enlightened leader is one who employs an ethical
standard pertinent to the community which they represent.
Simplistic 'moral' action, however, lacking a profound
understanding of the context of a situation, and often
encouraged by the need for visible activity in the face of
crisis, is not a substitute for well-informed and
dispassionately considered decision-making.
Leaders and Their Constituencies
7. Leaders are judged at several levels - their standards
of personal behavior; the results they achieve for their
primary followers; and their interaction with society and
the world beyond their immediate constituency.
8. Leaders who fail to respond adequately to the needs of
their primary supporters - either through lack of ability
or because they focus too heavily on concerns arising
outside their constituency - will frequently lose the
support they need to exercise authority. Those who narrow
their appeal to an inward-looking core and refuse to
consider the interests of other groups, however, lose the
moral stature needed to function in a diverse and rapidly
integrating world.
9. Integrity honesty and trust are necessary aspects of a
responsible leader's interaction with their constituency.
This fundamental principle, however, must at times be
weighed against the need for diplomacy and step-by-step
persuasion to help a society through difficult times of
change. Leaders must remain committed to listening and
learning throughout their careers.
10. Leadership is not always defined by directives issued
from authority and acted upon by subordinates.
Constituents who view themselves as active participants in
the process of change, and who are encouraged in that view
by their leaders, contribute more to their societies than
constituents who see themselves primarily as consumers of
services provided by an autonomous, impersonal system.
Being a citizen is different from being a customer.
Leadership Challenges in a Changing Environment
11. The increasingly rapid and thorough distribution of
information in modern societies creates new possibilities
and questions for emerging leaders. Manipulation of
constituents has become more difficult as the ideal of a
free and robust mass media has spread throughout the
world. The power of the media to inform and educate
constituents, and the ability of leaders to focus the
media's influence for beneficial purposes, have become
crucial aspects of leadership.
12. The world's problems are increasingly global, but
leadership remains national. It should be realized that
leadership on the international scene is inherently
constrained by leaders' responsibilities to their national
constituencies. Internationally, the dynamics of national
politics will require that centralized authority is
de-emphasized in favor of partnership and cooperation
between autonomous entities, such as nation-states.
13. Reactions to globalization that take the form of
nationalism, religious fundamentalism, and isolationism
will increasingly require leaders with a global
perspective. It will be increasingly important for leaders
to respond to this challenge to discover shared - rather
than conflicting - interests of divergent constituent
groups.
14. Leadership at the global level is possible through
persuasion, requiring leaders to demonstrate to their
constituents that global problems have significant
national impacts. The lack of powerful, international
institutional structures has contributed to a vacuum of
leadership at the global level, and the foundations for
global governance need be strengthened to foster global
responsibility.
15. In the global context, consciously educating future
leaders is increasingly important. This task requires
exposure of promising individuals to the culture of
foreign countries; to the culture of organizations of
different types from their own; and to senior leaders who
have the ability to lend advice based on seasoned
experience. An element of this education should be
programs which foster global links between the world's
leaders in all fields.
16. Political leadership at all levels, from local to
global, is being challenged by individuals working through
civil society organizations. Support for non-governmental
responses to social problems is in part a result of
increasing cynicism over the effectiveness of leaders
within the formal political system. The role of civil
society within decision-making processes will grow,
requiring the development of enlightened and responsible
leaders at all levels of society.
17. Economic prosperity can create conditions in which
both rights and responsibilities can flourish. The rules
of the market, however, do not provide a sufficient
ethical framework for social decisions, and enlightened
leaders within the private sector should play a key role
in the development of ethical business practices which
take into account both economic and broader social
values.
18. In a world divided between secular and spiritual
spheres, it is important that sufficient attention be paid
to meaningful interactions between the two, and that
secular and religious leaders be well-educated in each
other's sphere of activity and responsibility within the
framework of their common concern for humanity.
19. One way to enhance leaders' commitment to the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights is to advocate that
national leaders be sworn to not only their relevant
constitutions and/or confessional codes, but also the
Universal Declaration of Human Rights which has been
approved by their countries. This may prove to be valuable
to the fulfillment of the Universal Declaration of Human
Responsibilities, which is strongly advocated by the
InterAction Council.