THREE AFTER WORDS:
PAUSE IT FORWARD . . .
I hope our journey together has been helpful and meaningful as we explored the growth regions of self, others, and innovation. However, there are much bigger pauses to take, much deeper reflections to make. Pause to tackle big, complex, global issues so multifaceted and multidimensional that only a collective group of enlightened leaders could get their arms around them.
What if a critical mass of leaders paused not only to influence their immediate concerns but also stepped back for a bigger transformation . . . the transformation of the toughest issues we face as citizens in a global society? What if a tipping point of leaders rallied around the purposeful aspiration to pause and to act on the really significant, complex issues we all face? Signs of such major, service-fueled, purpose-filled initiatives are cropping up and making progress. The Clinton Health Access Initiative is making health care available to people in Africa. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is intent on eradicating entire classes of disease. The Climate Reality Project is educating and galvanizing awareness and changes to stem issues of climate change. Habitat for Humanity has rallied communities to build more than 500,000 safe, affordable homes. Berkana Institute approaches seemingly insurmountable problems in new ways, and for more than two decades Margaret Wheatley, its founder, has been teaching others to discover new approaches in our chaotic world. Jane McGonigal, the world-renowned alternate reality game designer, founded Gameful to inspire and challenge innovative game designers to design games that will improve people’s lives and solve real problems. She believes that in the future a game designer could be a Nobel Peace Prize winner. The Presencing Institute, a global community of individuals, institutions, and leaders, are transforming lives and communities by creating new models to deal with the issues of hunger, water, illiteracy, and poverty. Paul Polak, founder of International Development Enterprises, is developing practical solutions that attack poverty at its roots. Like Wheatley, Senge, Scharmer, and others, Polak implores us to listen to the people living in these situations and learn as much as we can about them and the context in which they live. All these initiatives and countless others are examples of stepping back to lead forward with enduring, innovative, life-enhancing impact.
As you are about to finish this book, I encourage you to pause for two very important final reflections:
1. Pause It Now. First and foremost, are you doing everything possible to grow yourself, grow others, and grow innovation? Global transformation begins with leaders like you authentically serving their immediate spheres of influence.
2. Pause It Forward. Second, what more could you also do to “play a bigger game” to more positively influence the broader systems and human needs in our local communities and the world?
For years, my “bigger game” has been to help influence the character development of hundreds of thousands of school-aged children through my association with Youth Frontiers. Also, my senior fellow and board memberships with the Caux Roundtable and the Center for Ethical Business Cultures are my attempt to foster ethical transformations in CEO leadership. Working at both ends of the age spectrum, from the young leaders of the future to today’s seasoned leaders, supplements the work that I do daily with my leadership clients and contributes to my larger, more generative purpose. This is my small, but I hope significant, way to pause it forward. What is yours?
If we each step back to consider how to do our part, we may have a chance to lead forward to foster more enriching, sustaining futures for successive generations. As Ray Anderson said, “Unless someone leads no one will.” It is up to us, the current generation of leaders, to create the future. It is up to us to pause it forward with authenticity, purpose, and generativity.
Great talent ripens late.
Great eloquence is silent.
Great form is shapeless.
The subtle essence of the universe is hidden and
indefinable, yet its benefit is always bestowed.
