Envisioning Leadership for Tomorrow's Collective Well-Being

What kinds of leaders does the world need today to achieve a sustainable tomorrow? This article focuses on the importance of envisioning values-based leadership in a pursuit of collective well-being, in light of unprecedented change today, uncertainty about tomorrow, and a lack of clear vision of desired futures. The authors make the case for the importance of formal and informal leaders today and in the future understanding themselves as part of a broader system, and becoming aware of their own competencies, attributes, values, and limitations. The emerging aspects of what leadership can do to promote a sustainable future and lead on the path call for shifts in the current understanding of leadership roles and characteristics. More effective approaches may be found through exploring explicit, transparent values-based leadership as well as new forms of engaging in partnerships and addressing systems holistically. When engaged, higher education can play crucial new roles in preparing much-needed knowledgeable and compassionate leaders, fostering and influencing behavior across societies, and leading future generations to live life purposefully and skillfully in the global pursuit of a sustainable future for all.