Change done through me, not change done to me
Through me, not to me
Change done through me, not done to me. It’s nothing new to offer this up as an insight. You understand it viscerally for yourself, and I’m guessing as well, you’ve been doing your best within your organization to make it so.
On the global stage, there’s the same choice to be made. I’m watching with various levels of trepidation (ranging from “high” to “very high”) as that conversation plays out. Being Canadian, it’s a crappy time to have the US as a neighbour.
Canada’s PM Mark Carney just gave a significant speech at Davos, speaking truth to power. There’s wisdom here for all of us as transformational leaders, notably about the power of coalition and the realpolitik of influence.
Here are a few extracts that I thought were particularly resonant.
So we’re engaging broadly, strategically, with open eyes. We actively take on the world as it is, not wait around for a world we wish to be.
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We are calibrating our relationships so their depth reflects our values, and we’re prioritizing broad engagement to maximize our influence, given the fluidity of the world at the moment, the risks that this poses, and the stakes for what comes next.
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To help solve global problems, we’re pursuing variable geometry. In other words, different coalitions for different issues based on common values and interests.
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This is not naïve multilateralism, nor is it relying on their institutions. It’s building coalitions that work issue by issue with partners who share enough common ground to act together.
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Our view is, the middle powers must act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu.
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We know the old order is not coming back. We shouldn’t mourn it. Nostalgia is not a strategy, but we believe that from the fracture we can build something bigger, better, stronger, more just. This is the task of the middle powers, the countries that have the most to lose from a world of fortresses and the most to gain from genuine co-operation.
I suspect readers of all political stripes read Change Signal. I certainly hope so. This isn’t really about geopolitics. It’s about seeking wisdom in what it takes to help our organizations be their best, human places doing work that matters. I’ll take that wisdom wherever I can find it.
