Are you really paying serious attention to what this is all about? Maybe not, because I have not always been clear about that in my own mind and behavior, much less in my words to you.
First, let me say that it is extremely gratifying that we have over 1675 subscribers in more than thirty countries. The support shown for this project is encouraging. In addition to subscribers we have the support of a growing number of leaders in the field of leadership, each of whom is passionate and committed to making a positive difference in the world. They have shown up as members of the Integral Leadership Council, the Management Review Board, Bureau Chiefs and contributors of articles, columns, reviews and generative material that stimulates us all. And thanks to those 0f you who have shown financial support with your $10.00 or more contributions. At the suggestion of a recent contributor we have created a Friends designation and begun to place the names of these supporters on the Friends page:
http://www.integralleadershipreview.com/2007_03_friends.html.
Join the Friends of the Integral Leadership Review by helping to defray the costs of producing Integral Leadership Review:http://www.integralleadershipreview.com/donate_subscribe_sponsor.html.
So what is this all about? Well, leadership you might say. Yes, it most certainly is. And it is an approach to leadership practice, development and our mental models that seek to support efforts all over the world that will make a positive difference. In the Integral Leadership Review there has been a lot of focus to date on theory and models. Well, I think that is important. That will continue. And we have had some good pieces on implementation. That is going to increase. We have some exciting plans for future issues of the Integral Leadership Review. I will let you know more about that in the next issue. We would appreciate your letting others know about how to access this publication.
We all know what are sometimes called the “threats and opportunities” we face. Most of them are not new, just new faces on them or old wine in new bottles. We just know a smidgen more about them, be they environmental degradation, forces of greed within each of us, competition for control, murder, tyranny, disease, starvation. Damn! It’s a long and horrifying list. And it is going to require our commitment, our passion and our creativity to make a difference—not just for you and me, but also for people—many, many people—all over the world.
The Integral Leadership Review is becoming another rallying point for people around the world to find a path to sustainability, generativity and engagement with what really matters. It is a place to share our ideas, to tell our stories. It is not just about success, but it is about learning—whether from success or failure.
If you value that vision, that premise of this publication, then the greatest contribution you can make is to read the ideas, experiences and aspirations of those who have a story to tell. Then use what you find here to inform your own work, to realize the positive impact you seek to make on the world. See if there is a way for you to unfold your being and doing in the world.
Use the Integral Leadership Review as a means for building bridges and crossing boundaries via those bridges with ideas and experiences that can be shared across all boundaries. It is a vehicle both for building bridges and crossing bridges—
- From experience to experience as we learn from each other and through doing.
- From culture and context to culture and context as we learn and stimulate each other despite the geographical, political and spiritual boundaries that we continuously create and re-enforce around us and between us.
- From mental model to mental model as different perspectives engage in ways that will stimulate all of our thinking and our actions.
- From role to role, whether leading, developing or studying sharing the learning that is derived from each with each other.
The Integral Leadership Review is read and contributed to by people who are building these bridges, crossing these boundaries and committing to making a difference.
My commitment to you is that I am part of this wonderful exploration and experiment primarily to help bring your ideas and experience to light. I seek you out. I listen to others as they tell me about you or read about you in some remote corner of the Internet or as the result of a search. Perhaps I find you in your publications or the writings of others. Some of you I have met in workshops or conferences or when you have visited me near Monterey, California. Many of you I have never and will never meet personally. And that, too, is just fine. I am not looking for friends. I am looking for companions, collaborators and anyone who wishes to engage in generating the kinds of learning about leadership and its role in helping to shape the world so that our children and our children’s children never have to discover the meaning of the old Chinese curse, “May your children live in interesting times!” Rather, to engage the world to make it safer and more beautiful for them.
Our enterprise is about learning and doing. Find your path for engaging and joining each other. I will see you on the path.