Sunday, February 11, 2018

The power of cooperation gives context to the world – Reason 29

If someone would describe the world today in about 50 years’ time, they could use a spider web as an analogy.  On one hand, the web we are living is strong and interconnected; on the other hand, just as a child could break it, our huge human network is as fragile.

For everyday people, to know how to manage life in this web is part of the big challenge and many times the person can feel like a fly that is caught up in it.  For a leader, the fact we are a network is an advantage, since she or he constantly has a task to perform, or an activity that is probably bigger than her or his capacity.

Leaders replace old paradigm of bosses who use their authority as a means to impose order and to get people to contribute with cooperation as a natural skill to get the same results but with different consequences.

Leaders easily learn to navigate in this big human web and how to capitalise this huge potential.  An example of that comes from former USA President Bill Clinton who touched that topic in a notable paper for the International Monetary Fund, with the indicative title The Power of Cooperation[1]He describes the possibilities of cooperation and results, silently showing their advantages in relation to former paradigms like conquer and win.

That goes beyond politics and global scenarios: for a leader, cooperation starts from within, from his or her own conviction and the natural sense of giving help to others.


(Excerpt from the book 82 Reasons to be a Leader)




[1]The Power of Cooperation.  http://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/2012/12/clinton.htm

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