To Steward or to Lead?
It is Earth Overshoot Day (EOD) today, w/151 days left in 2023. 🌎
As it moves up each year, I’ve been reflecting on notions of leadership vs. stewardship + lessons Earth has taught me.
As EOD marks when humanity’s demand for ecological resources + services exceeds what Earth can regenerate in a given year, I’m thinking we need to re-exam the essence of leadership.
Is not a new era of stewardship necessary at this point?
According to Merriam-Webster:
LEADERSHIP
“the office or position of a leader: capacity to lead : the act or an instance of leading”STEWARDSHIP
“the office, duties, and obligations of a steward: the conducting, supervising, or managing of something especially: the careful and responsible management of something entrusted to one’s care”
In this era of the great climate crisis and the collapse of planetary boundaries we need reimagined governance that suits our reality.
Stewards can lead, but can leaders steward?
A reflection on my time in the “Land of Fire and Ice” (Iceland) illuminates the importance of such questioning.
There, I realized just how hard it’s to distinguish a volcano from a mountain, let alone an active vs. dormant one, from sight alone.
Now, metaphorically, think of the climate crisis and the collapse of planetary boundaries as an active volcano that is tethered to the actions of human-made systems and activity.
I know 1st hand standing in the presence of a volcano, when it was thought to be a mere small mountainous rock from afar, evokes a sense of awe.
Descending into the magna chamber of a (dormant) volcano, the only one in the world a human can safely do so, I found prompts an even greater sense of awe, with a dose of fear.
Perhaps that sensation could be likened to what many leaders & stewards experience, in the crux of navigating our global and extensional crisis.
However, it’s how one acts in the present and immediate future that greatly affects the trajectory and lives of existing and future generations + economies.
Which style of governance are you, or which type of person would you rather be governed by?
1️⃣ One who became aware they are governing upon an active volcano, but choose to still lead operations and others as if they were upon a solid mountain, a city upon a hill, business as usual.
-OR-
2️⃣ One who became aware of the volcanic dilemma, but familiarizes themselves with the ins and outs of the situation, and chooses to collaborate with others to create and implement a new system of operation and mitigation, including a transition and resilience plan, with careful attention to the life forms and social systems at stake within its domain (i.e. Earth)?
If there was more entrusted stewardship vs. mere leadership for status stake on Earth, wouldn’t EOD get pushed backed by weeks or months?
