Metamodern Leadership - James Surwillo

The great liberal arts tradition of leadership is dead, and our twentieth-century leaders have killed it. Around the eighteenth century, the world began to revive the ancient wisdom of mankind in a period called the Enlightenment. By the late twentieth century, the truth and wisdom learned in the Enlightenment was in remission due to the fragmentation caused by new insights and complexities developed in the postmodern period. In recent years, metamodernism as a cultural era claims that thanks to technology, science, and evolution, those complexities can now be harnessed as progress reminiscent of the Enlightenment itself. We are reeducating, retooling, and re-training for new technological requirements as the path to progress for the future. By that time, however, a generational leadership shift of power will be underway between the two largest generations in American history, the baby boomers and the millennials. The new interpretation of leadership itself will be a phenomenon which has, as of yet, gone completely unexamined or, at best, has been misunderstood. History has already informed the worldview of today's youth, but soon the looming power shift will mandate a new and unique perspective. Will we be unprepared for a world under that form of leadership? Are they aware of their historical generational context? What principles can we expect from our future leaders?   Metamodern Leadership outlines the seven values that identify the character of our future leaders based on the circumstances that make the Millennial Generation who they are. It is at once an attempt to implore youth to seize their potential by tying their values to ancient wisdom, as well as a warning to everyone else to understand the impacts of disregarding the inevitable tendencies of a very distinct new demographic. This is the untold story of the personal responsibility required of the Millennial Generation, against the messaging and memes that portray them as entitled and lazy. It is an optimistic and pragmatic interpretation on the leadership mandates in the near future. The ancient virtue of leadership required broad knowledge as the basis for critical thinking and self-examination. The late twentieth century required myopic versions of leadership, which neglected the truths of centuries of wisdom. Our younger generations will lead and follow based on new foundations that seem counterintuitive to most yet will be the status quo within a decade. This distinction will lead to pragmatism and problem solving for the future rather than the dogma and gridlock of today. We will require a generation of leaders who can once again link the complexities of the future with the ancient wisdom of progress.