Connector - International Leadership Association

Closing Thoughts onLeadership 2.0: Time for ActionKatherine Tyler Scott, ILA Board MemberBoardCORNERKatherine Tyler Scott shares her thoughtson the conference, Saturday October 30.Hasn’t this been a wonderfulConference? I just met someone onthe elevator today who said, “Myhead is full, my heart is bursting, andmy feet are tired.” I think we canall relate to this description at thispoint. Each of us has a perspectiveabout what we have experiencedhere and what it means; I feelprivileged to share mine.We all know that ILA is aunique organization of scholars,practitioners, and educators whoall share a mission of promoting adeeper understanding of leadershipknowledge and practice forthe larger good of individuals,organizations, and communitiesworldwide. What this conferencehas inspired us to do is to reinterpretthis mission in light of thecurrent reality and our desire for adifferent future.In [2010 Conference Chair]Sherry Penny’s warm and2.gracious welcome andChancellor Motley’s energeticinvitation we heard both pridein this “City of firsts,” as well asacknowledgement of the challengeof being a place of tradition andinnovation.Our President, Cynthia Cherreyprovided a context for our timetogether and for Leadership 2.0. Shedescribed a state of chronic shiftsand a degree of change that calls usto think differently and to developand use the skill of complex-ipacity.The issues we face demand adifferent way of leading, somethingwe’ve heard daily. Every speakerwe heard in our Plenary Sessionsas well as many workshop leadershave shared this appraisal as wellas their own thoughts about whatthis means for leadership study andpractice, and for us individually andcollectively.Leadership 2.0is Leadership1.0 onsteroids!—acall to action,persistentlydemanding theanswer to thequestion posedby both JeanLipman Blumen[a 2010 LifetimeAchivementAward Winner]and [keynotespeaker]Rosabeth Moss Kanter—“Leadership for what?”Karen Armstrong, winner of a 2009 TEDprize for her work, gives her keynote,“Leadership 2.0: Interfaith Leadership &Compassionate Action”The answers will come from all ofus and from our willingness to workacross boundaries and explore theintersections between what we arelearning and doing and betweenwho we are and what we believe.We must be willing to let go of theillusion of control, as Cynthia saidand be on what I describe as themargin.Ecologically, the margin is abiologically rich and diverse placewhere different habitats cometogether. In Leadership 2.0 these arethe spaces in which we can bring ourwhole selves; where we cannot andwill not permit professional, cultural,geographic, racial, ethnic, and/orreligious classifications to divide usor to perpetuate the illusion that wedon’t share a common humanityor the same fate. We are connectedand when we move from our placesof professional centrality to wherewe intersect, we find ourselves inthe space of great potential and awealth of possibilities for creatingchange that is trulytransformational.Being on the margingives us a senseof humility and arenewed respectfor differences. Itenables us to seefrom a distancewith clarity andcompassion— thekind that [keynotespeaker] KarenArmstrong spokeof —the kind ofcompassion that urges us to action.The margin is not a neat orderlyantiseptic place. It is organic andat times messy and unpredictable,but those who inhabit it understandthat it is the place from which thenew order will emerge. In order(November 2010) The Member Connector, International Leadership Association, www.ila-net.org, www.ILASpace.org