by Errol A. Gibbs
- 13 June 2025
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When the essence of these eight powerful words is understood and put into action, they will empower global leadership “for the greater good”—of humankind.
Global leadership is enigmatic. It undergirds a male-dominated leadership in each era—premodern, modern, and postmodern. Gratifyingly, postmodern leaders continue to evolve from autocratic to more widely informed and concerned leadership principles. Notwithstanding these advancements, the postmodern world is at a critical juncture—facing a global leadership crisis. Problems facing humankind are not merely technical, industrial, or environmental, but human, and therefore, spiritual, moral, social, political, psychological, emotional, and intellectual.
These problems are not simply the affair of military experts, wealthy and powerful elites, or religious and political leaders. They are the affairs of every man and woman of every nation, making us all responsible and involved. We are dealing with life-and-death issues for humankind. Our survival as a viable species depends upon better global LEADERSHIP.
1. LEADERSHIP
Leadership today is predominantly focused on political, economic, and military objectives, often at the expense of crucial humanitarian objectives and those related to humankind’s ability to thrive on this planet. This incongruence has left leaders in both public and private sectors in a precarious position as the world hurtles towards uncontrollable disasters—natural, human-caused, and human-inspired. Despite a wealth of expertise in every field of human endeavor, the urgency of the situation cannot be overstated.
Unlike yesteryear, postmodern leadership has the benefit of “Spiritual Intelligence” (SQ), a concept that encompasses the ability to understand and apply spiritual principles in a practical context. This, along with Human Intelligence (IQ) and Artificial Intelligence (AI), enable leaders to determine causes, effects, outcomes, and consequences of organizational and human behavior, from crime and violence to environmental pollution to civic discourse and more. However, leaders neglect the “moral proclivities” to ensure the literal and metaphorical battlefields of war (deficit-financed) are sanitized of non-combatants. Furthermore, these battlefields cause catastrophic casualties and a drain on the resources of nations—industrialized, semi-industrialized, and non-industrialized alike—with unmanageable consequences to human survival. The conclusion is that Spiritual Intelligence (SQ) or SPIRITUALITY is a prerequisite for global leadership.
2. SPIRITUALITY
Spirituality is not a vague concept, nor is it essentially synonymous with religion. I believe it is a fundamental requirement for effective global leadership. The decline in international peace, harmony, and goodwill among nations indicates diminishing spiritual progress in light of material progress. The fall of the great empires of the ancient world serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of a society that abandons its spiritual roots and the lessons of history.
Postmodern scholars cite circumstances such as the economy, social and cultural integration, environment, and politics as the fall of empires. In Why Empires Fall: Rome, America, and the Future of the West, Peter Heather and John Rapley (2023) pose the question: Has the era of Western global domination indeed reached its end? And if so, what comes next? Preserving democracy was a central theme that undergirded the November 2024 election of the 47th President of the United States. Is Western DEMOCRACY in peril?
3. DEMOCRACY
Democracy surfaced in Athens, Greece, around the fifth century BCE. All adult citizens were required to participate in government. Postmodern democracy is a paradox. On the one hand, it represents a significant opportunity for nations to achieve harmonious and equitable societies. On the other hand, the Western world (often hailed as the bastion of democracy) falls short of the moral considerations and demands for equity, inclusion and belonging of all people regardless of race, culture, color, religion, gender, social and economic classes, or any other perceived difference.
Democracy is a double-edged sword reliant upon two worldviews that are often at odds with one another: Capitalism (unequally distributed resources) and Civic and Political Rights (equally distributed to all with an emphasis on the common good). In order to ensure the fair adjudication of laws in a democracy, just, moral, and ethical leadership is required. In robust democracies, everyone has the inherent right and freedom to live in a system without fear of repression. Leaders must dispense fairness and JUSTICE for democracy to survive.
4. JUSTICE
Justice is not an arbitrary notion. It is the moral and ethical treatment of people, fairly and impartially. Moreover, justice should be applied equitably to everyone. But justice needs a moral arbitrator. The League of Nations was one such attempt. As an international organization headquartered in Geneva, Switzerland, it was created in 1920 after World War I to provide a forum for peacefully resolving international disputes. It failed as an adjudicator to forestall World War II (1939 – 1945).
Established in 1945, the United Nations (UN) is the premier global organization where all the world’s nations can gather together, discuss common problems, and find solutions that benefit humankind. However, the state of the postmodern world demonstrates its weaknesses and lack of authority, notwithstanding its 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) as a common standard of achievements for all people and all nations. This raises a question regarding the ability of justice to maintain AUTHORITY.
Any desire for “Leadership for the greater good” of humankind must begin with global leadership that recognizes and practices these eight empowering attributes as its guiding doctrine.
5. AUTHORITY
Authority in postmodernism tends to focus on “secular authority” more so than on the “spiritual authority” of an unseen God. Today, humankind has taken a material path, relying on mass production, consumerism, wealth, and military might as dominant measures of enlightenment and progress. These perceptions of human value skew the critical importance of authority. Secular authority takes precedence over moral authority (often seen in combination with spiritual authority) which can be a powerful driver of reforms.
The lack of moral authority calls into question any notion of democratic ideals. It creates a rigid power imbalance sustained and maintained by applying human laws that, though noble in intent, are often fundamentally unjust in practice. These laws benefit the haves over the have-not nations, frequently using moral alibis and economic and military might to force compliance by weaker and non-militarized nations in contradiction to what might transcend “right,” “righteous,” or “RIGHTEOUSNESS.”
6. RIGHTEOUSNESS
Righteousness is a form of leadership only sustained by moral authority and moral laws and not by moral alibis to justify the uneven application of human laws. It is the quality or state of being morally correct and justifiable. It can be synonymous with rightness or uprightness. It is a theological concept in world religions, particularly Abrahamic traditions. Righteous action comes from the heart and not from the head, which can distort its true meaning in the application. The challenge to postmodern leaders is how to balance moral duty versus civic duty in human ecosystems that are no longer homogeneous but polarized by difference and with different needs, wants, priorities, and emergencies. There is a need for a new form of earthly, righteous STEWARDSHIP.
7. STEWARDSHIP
In global leadership and ethics, stewardship refers to the responsible management and care of resources and people, guided by “fairness and justice for all peoples and nations.” What does it mean to be a steward to the Earth? In their article, “Environmental Stewardship: A Conceptual Review and Analytical Framework,” Bennett et al. (2018) write:
Local environmental stewardship is the actions taken by individuals, groups or networks of actors, with various motivations and levels of capacity, to protect, care for or responsibly use the environment in pursuit of environmental and/or social outcomes in diverse social-ecological contexts.
This noble statement means preserving the Earth, sharing its resources, and leading its inhabitants with fairness and justice. The appointed stewards claim a higher moral authority and responsibility and exercise righteousness by adopting principles of “fairness and justice” as an unalterable DOCTRINE—applied universally.
8. DOCTRINE
Doctrines are governance principles, typically espoused by religious, political, military, and corporate entities. For example, the Judeo Christian: “Do unto others…” (Luke 6:31 and Matthew 7:12) and “…Love thy neighbor…” (Leviticus 19:18 & Matthew 22:39) are foundational Biblical doctrines. Other religious texts such as the Vedas and Upanishads of Hinduism, the Tripitaka of Buddhism, the Avesta of Zoroastrianism, the Analects of Confucianism, the Tao Te Ching of Taoism, the Quran of Islam, the Torah of Judaism have similar doctrines.
Paradoxically, after 2,000 years, Western democracies, which are permeated by Christian doctrine, seem to have great difficulties regarding which doctrine to follow to help guide and direct the actions and behavior of Western world leaders and the citizenry. The world today has become a “battlefield of bloodshed,” often sanctioned and justified by the application of Old Testament doctrine, proclaiming to world leaders God’s appointment and permission to maintain the carnage of ancient times—recklessly.
Hence, any desire for “Leadership for the greater good” of humankind must begin with global leadership that recognizes and practices these empowering attributes as its guiding doctrine: leadership, spirituality, democracy, justice, authority, righteousness, stewardship, and doctrine. It is only through that application that the foundational unalterable principles of fairness and justice, as illustrated under the 30 Rights and Freedoms tabled in the UDHR (Universal Declaration of Human Rights), will be obtained.
Bennett N.J., Whitty T.S., Finkbeiner E., Pittman J., Bassett H., Gelcich S., & Allison E.H. (2018). Environmental Stewardship: A Conceptual Review and Analytical Framework. Environ Manage, 61(4), 597-614. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-017-0993-2.
Heather, P., & Rapley, J. (2023). Why Empires Fall: Rome, America, and the Future of the West. Yale University Press.
Errol A. Gibbs has a diverse background, formally practicing as a Project Management and Business Process Re-Engineering Analyst, Certified (Scientific) Engineering Technologist, and Planning and Scheduling Engineer Officer. He is not just a professional but also a self-inspired researcher, writer, speaker, philosopher, mentor, and moderator. Errol’s extensive work on happiness, focusing on it as a trajectory rather than unsustainable cyclic events, is a testament to his versatility.
Errol plans to share his knowledge and insights on happiness with the world through nine paperbacks, eBooks, and audiobooks, with a proposed publication date in the fourth quarter of 2025. Errol takes great pride in his long-standing relationship with the International Leadership Association (ILA).
“The organization has the ‘faculty of knowledge’ to be at the forefront of the global leadership—openness, research, study, debate and initiatives”
—Errol A. Gibbs
Milton, ON, Canada
