A colleague who I deeply respect as a leader recently mentioned a principle of Christian leadership, the teachings of Jethro. Although I don’t personally identify with a particular religious affiliation, I strongly support everyone’s right to identify with their own beliefs. I am fascinated by the diversity of worldviews and underlying value systems, as I feel they often transcend religion to connect humanity. This is why my own reaction surprised me.
Despite the high regard I hold this person in, my initial instinct was to brush it off as something that would not hold value for me because I am not Christian. However, curiosity prompted me to delve deeper. I learned that Jethro guided Moses (his son-in-law and a highly esteemed leader), by illustrating that trying to lead all on his own was unsustainable and would ultimately lead to burn out (Sherley, 2019). Regardless of any one person’s good intentions or skills, leadership is never about an individual. That approach is not only unsustainable, it disregards the contributions of other potential leaders and fails to recognize the necessity of multiple, important roles (Sherley, 2019). Ultimately, Moses took the advice of Jethro, showing that even, “with his great responsibility to lead, [Moses] is not averse to being led; with his great task of teaching, he is not unwilling to learn”.
It is not difficult to see this story’s connection to climate change leadership. No one person, group, or discipline can independently tackle such a complex problem. The climate crisis requires multiple leaders from diverse backgrounds to achieve a holistic understanding of the problem (Wolfgramm & Tuazon, 2020). That message is reinforced to me daily through my learning. However, the lesson I learned from this experience is a different one. For me, it highlighted the importance of self-reflection. My initial reaction was to dismiss this information because I, erroneously, believed it varied from my worldview, thereby assuming that my worldview can never change. In the uncertainty of climate change, leaders must actively engage in self-reflection of their goals and perspectives as they may need to be adapted. Often. If, as Greek philosopher Heraclitus suggests, “change is the only constant in life” (n.d.), a leader must be open to change, especially when up against so much uncertainty.
“Change is the only constant in life”
(Heraclitus, n.d.)
It is this uncertainty which reinforces one of the viewpoints that has remained constant throughout my journey: the importance of humility. A leader in this field must preserve the humility to remain open and engage frequently in self-reflection. Failing to do so risks remaining tied to ideas that are no longer relevant in an ever-changing and uncertain landscape, potentially preventing evolution of thought and solutions. The Earth’s climate (and the correlated crisis we face) is a complex system which requires systems thinking to address the many interconnections (FitzGibbon & Mensah, 2012). Approaching such wicked problems requires innovation and expansion of thought. As eloquently stated by Donella Meadows (1999), “But complex systems are, well, complex. It’s dangerous to generalize about them. […] it’s an invitation to think more broadly about the many ways there might be to get systems to change” (p. 3). As stories assist us in understanding and reimagining the world (Sium & Ritskes, 2013), I would like to illustrate this complexity through a short example.
Meet Stuart from Victoria. He presently has a home, but this is tenuous, as always, as he has long struggled with poverty. His living conditions are unsafe and stressful. He barely has enough to eat, and the food he is able to access is highly refined, rarely fresh, and based on foodbank availability. He has needed medications in the past but is unable to reliably afford them.
Stuart is newly diagnosed with high blood pressure. A common diagnosis with many evidence-based interventions available, including medication. Unfortunately, there are no ‘simple’ solutions to Stuart’s problem. This is not just a diagnosis of high blood pressure; this is the much more complex diagnosis of health inequity. To give Stuart a prescription and send him on his way would disregard the big picture — the underlying systemic injustices. Stuart’s blood pressure is affected by many systemic issues such as our society’s failure to meet basic needs due to political, social, economic, and environmental factors. One healthcare provider, no matter how well-intentioned, is incapable of addressing this alone.
Similarly, climate change requires that same broad view to address such a complex problem. Coming at it with an ‘easy’ answer is inadequate and potentially harmful. Success requires transdisciplinary thinking to expand the questions being asked and problems being investigated (Bongarts Lebbe et al., 2021). For me, what that translates into are leaders who are open to self-reflection. It sounds simple, but it is not. Honest self-reflection requires an openness to realizing that we, as individuals or groups, may not know all (or any) of the answers or possibly even what the problem is in some cases. It is an uncomfortable place to exist, with pathways and ways of knowing that create further uncertainty. I have been living in that space for the last year.
It is inspiring, yet humbling.
Just as change is exciting, yet frightening.
To lead in any capacity, we must let go of wanting to have all the answers and replace that desire with the ability to own the many answers we do not have — especially individually. I believe this openness and honesty in the face of uncertainty, will allow for personal and collective evolution in ideas, motivations, and action.
Practically, for me, I am committing to make a conscious effort to truly listen to what is said before deciding its value while also reflecting on my own reactions and the values that guide them. Dismissal of insights based on perceived irrelevance will ultimately result in a loss of wisdom. I plan on using self-talk and engaging loved ones to provide me with gentle reminders.
I would love to hear any other methods that have, or could, successfully help with self-refection.
References
Bongarts Lebbe, T., Rey-Valette, H., Chaumillon, E., Camus, G., Almar, R., Cazenave, A., Claudet, J., Rocle, N., Meur-Ferec, C., Viard, F., Mercier, D., Dupuy, C., Menard, F., Rossel, B. A., Mullineaux, L., Sicre, M-A., Zivian, A., Gaill, F., & Euzen, A. (2021). Designing coastal adaptation strategies to tackle sea level rise. Frontiers in Marine Science, 8. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2021.740602
FitzGibbon, J., & O. Mensah, K. (2012). Climate change as a wicked problem: An evaluation of the institutional context for rural water management in Ghana. Sage Open, 2(2), 1-14. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244012448487
Heraclitus. (n.d.). https://www.reference.com/world-view/said-only-thing-constant-change-d50c0532e714e12b
Meadows, D. (1999). Leverage points: Places to intervene in a system. The Sustainability Institute.https://donellameadows.org/wp-content/userfiles/Leverage_Points.pdf
Sherley, C. L. (2019). Empowering stewardship: Leadership lessons from Exodus 18:13-27. Regent University. https://www.regent.edu/journal/journal-of-biblical-perspectives-in-leadership/moses-leadership/
Sium, A., & Ritskes, E. (2013). Speaking truth to power: Indigenous storytelling as an act of living resistance. Decolonization: Indigeneity, Education & Society, 2(1). https://jps.library.utoronto.ca/index.php/des/article/view/19626
Wolfgramm, R., & Tuazon, G. F. (2020). Transformative leadership and transdisciplinary research: Synergies to address climate change. In W. Leal Filho, J. Luetz, & D. Ayal (Eds.), Handbook of climate change management. (pp. 1-33 ). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-22759-3_158-1