A Paradigm Shift

In these changing times, leaders can no longer rely on traditional, historical leadership constructs that are based primarily on hierarchical authority and concentrated decision-making and power. Collectively, we are learning-- often at very high cost-- that this leadership model has limited effectiveness within a shrinking number of contexts. The social, political, and economic conditions of the beginning of the 21st century have forever changed the roles and responsibilities of today's leaders.

To survive and grow in this changing world, leaders are discovering that new, more sustainable methods are required. Contemporary understanding about leadership acknowledges the new conditions and the new requirements for leaders at this time in human history, which are creating a fundamental paradigm shift. These requirements are redefining who leaders are, what they do, and where they reside within a group. They are even redefining the very nature of the relationship between the leaders and those who, historically, have been called follwers. Furthermore, evidence is mounting worldwide that leaders and organizations that ignore this paradigm shift and continue to adhere to traditional leadership identities and definitions put not just themselves, but their entire enterprise in jeopardy.

The Seven Aspirations

The Seven Aspirations of Effective 21st Century Leadership™ is a system developed from the Callaway Group's more than forty years of experience seeing first-hand what works and what is counterproductive in modern leadership. The aspirations are distinct, but inter-related, and are grouped into three themes:

	Self The course begins at the core of leadership: the leader himself. A leader cannot hope to inspire and lead without embodying the vision and values he or she wants to lead with and instill in his or her organization.
	Realty With that groundwork established, the program examines the reality of both the leader's organzation and the world as a whole. Too many decisions by ineffective leaders are made based on hand-picked facts or by jumping to familiar conclusions without doing the important work of correctly diagnosing the real underlying organizational challenges. By then applying a true understand of the workings of organic systems to strategic management, effective leaders become comfortable with and master the process of change and use it to their advantage.
	Relationships Many programs would stop here, but The Seven Aspirations continues by delving into the relationships that bind companies and social networks together. At this point, the effective leader learns the advantage and necessity of building mutually beneficial relationships and the benefits of aligning people and systems towards a shared goal or purpose. Through the skilled and balanced use of all these techniques, a leader can and should create a positive, sustainable, life-affirming culture that will remain flexible and responsive to the changing conditions of our modern world.

The Callaway Group teaches the Seven Aspirations of Effective 21st Century Leadership™ through practical, hands-on courses and seminars offered both in-person and online, as well as through our email newsletter series Leadership and the Unknown (available in our online resource library). For more information, please contact us.

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