Written by Johannes Radtke
What is leadership? What are the features of “good leadership”? In what way are leadership and the fight against poverty connected? These and other questions make up the main ingredients of the “Acumen Leadership Essentials” workshops, part of a 6-week course held at Impact Hub Stockholm.
Acumen Leadership Essentials is a 6-week introductory course that takes participants through a variety of materials designed to train leaders who wish to change the way the world tackles poverty, and build a world based on dignity. Acumen’s definition of leadership? The humility to see the world as it is, and the audacity to imagine the world as it could be.
The workshops can generally be characterized by the exchange of knowledge and experiences. Rather than receiving practical instructions for good leadership, participants are given food for thought— fuel for questioning previous behavioral patterns, and discovering the answers on their own.
We, the participants, came from quite diverse cultural backgrounds—apart from Sweden, we came from Brazil, India, Italy, and Germany. Such a mix gave way to complex, interesting and even emotional group discussions. Here’s a sampling of the big leadership questions we debated as a group:
The Aid Debate. Is the good will of people in developed countries and their heartfelt desire to help the poorest of the poor actually making a difference? Or is it doing more harm than good— subject to degeneration by corrupt profit-driven aid agencies only interested in keeping up the flow of funds? What are the consequences for leaders? How can people be led to administer actual help?
Empathy: Everyday Barrier? Empathy is an important aspect of leadership. We need it to understand other people’s needs. But can too much empathy be counterproductive? What are the advantages and disadvantages of a showing great empathy?
While there are no easy answers to such pressing questions, over the course of several meetings and debates, we would take away some key lessons about leadership. We would come to realize that well-intentioned leadership is not equal to well-done leadership. We would discover that leadership, in its most basic form, is real help genuinely needed.———————————————
What is ACUMEN?
Acumen is part of a global community of change makers, who share a common vision to transform the world of philanthropy by looking at all human beings not as distant strangers, but as members of a single, global community where everyone has the opportunity to build a life of dignity. The organization was established in 2001 with seed capital from supporters like the Rockefeller Foundation and the Cisco System Foundation. Other investors include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and GOOGLE.org
Read more about Acumen here.
The final Acumen Leaderships Essentials module, “Intro to Moral Imagination and Challenges in Poverty Alleviation” will take place next Tuesday, June, 16th from 7–9pm at Impact Hub Stockholm, Room Sao Paolo. For more information, visit here.