Leadership Wisdom Initiative

Launched in 2006, the Leadership Wisdom Initiative (LWI) provides transformational leadership and conflict management development for political and civil society leaders worldwide. LWI combines deeply held values about our common humanity with SFCG's trademark ability for practical, on-the-ground application. LWI is a high leverage project built on sustainable principles with the goal of institutionalizing leadership wisdom development practices where it matters – with political leaders, with the leadership of high impact global agencies, and with emerging leaders, particularly women.

The world is in crisis, and there is a concomitant crisis of leadership. Our vision is of:

• authentic leadership that synthesizes the inner and outer arts of leadership;
• leadership for the whole, not just for “my” party, faction, tribe or group, that is rooted in a profound sense of our common humanity and the interconnectedness of all beings; and
• compassionate leadership that facilitates problem solving and heals societal divisions.

The core of our approach is leadership from the inside-out. We invite leaders to look within and understand how their inner world affects their experience of the outer world. We work with each individual at a profound level, asking them to reflect on what kind of leader they want to be in the world. Our programs create the opportunity for leaders to reflect on their experience and access their inner wisdom in the context of practical approaches to the challenges they are dealing with every day.

UN senior mission leaders with LWI founders Susan Collin Marks (center) and Sheila Daunt Escandon (far left) at Harvard University, July 2007. Click image to enlarge.

His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Susan Collin Marks at the Waldzell Institute, Austria. Click image to enlarge.

LWI has global reach and engages multiple sectors such as politicians, diplomats and civil society leaders. Highlights of current projects include:

Global Leadership Curriculum
Harvard Law School's Global Negotiation Project and LWI have formed a strategic partnership to offer leadership and conflict management training and coaching for global leaders. This program provides the opportunity for deep reflection, and at the same time allows participants to expand their existing skills, knowledge and wisdom, equipping them with new, practical tools that will support them in their daily work. Modules include mediation, negotiations, leadership presence, gender diversity, critical decision making, how to have difficult conversations, interpersonal skills and more. Our first training was offered to UN senior mission leaders in July 2007.

Coaching and leadership circles
We are offering one-on-one coaching to high level political and civil society leadership, including parliamentarians, around the world. This coaching is intimately designed to build and expand individual leaders' core capacities to deal with the enormous responsibilities and challenges they face on a daily basis. We are working with leaders in Africa, Asia, the Middle East and the USA. We also offer leadership circles that gather a supportive group around an individual leader. Presently, we are co-facilitating a reflection group for US Members of Congress.

Women of Africa Leadership Development Program
Our goal is to accompany women political and civil society leaders as they take the next step in their leadership journey, whether running for political office and being prepared to be effective once elected, or expanding their ability to influence change from within a current position. We offer support in acquiring the skills, resources and self-confidence to rise to and stay in Leadership positions with greater decision-making powers, and in translating their life experiences into powerful new ways of leading.

We are offering this development program through a series of partnerships with existing NGOs, professional trainers, academic organizations, and foundations in Africa and elsewhere. Methodologies include training workshops, coaching, reflection, and leadership circles tailored to meet the specific challenges of each woman or community of women with whom we are engaged.

As a first step, LWI is partnering with the Nairobi Peace Initiative – Africa in Kenya in October 2007 and with Femme Afrique Solidarite in West Africa in February 2008 to research the barriers to and opportunities for women stepping into leadership in Africa.

Disseminating leadership wisdom
LWI presents its leadership perspective internationally. Recent venues include:

• In May 2007, at the World Economic Forum at the Dead Sea, Jordan, on a panel with Her Majesty Queen Rania of Jordan and Dina Powell, Assistant Secretary of State for Educational and Cultural Affairs, US Department of State, entitled Leading in a Multicultural World.
• In January 2007, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, on a panel with Micheline Calmy-Rey, President of Switzerland, entitled Is the Multicultural Society an Illusion?
• In June 2006, on a panel entitled Advocacy for Women Leaders, to Pan-African women leaders in Bamako, Mali at the Femme Afrique Solidarite General Assembly.

LWI funders include the Fetzer Institute, the International Development and Research Center (IDRC), and the Foundation for Global Community.

For further information, please contact Radha Kramer at rkramer@sfcg.org.

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