All policies, practices, and procedures are examined for barriers to full board, management, and workforce participation. We abandon policies that impede, while developing policies that facilitate inclusion. Here again, language is important. The challenges of leadership and citizenship are daunting, yet they offer incredible opportunities for new significance and performance if we have the courage and commitment to define the new realities in human terms. In doing so we free up the organization, release the spirits of our people, embrace the changes in workplace and workforce, and open doors by providing equal access to opportunity supported by development, education, and commitment for full and energetic participation.
Turbulent times create possibilities beyond today's most optimistic views.
Leaders can unleash the talents and energies of all of their people as they pursue a vision of a country of healthy children, strong families, decent housing, good schools, and work that dignifies, all embraced by the inclusive, cohesive community. We have a long way to go before we fully appreciate, let alone redefine, current realities. But the individual efforts of thousands of leaders in millions of organizations will transform the vision into the new reality. When they look at us, they will find themselves. Reprinted with permission from Leader to Leader , a publication of the Drucker Foundation and Jossey-Bass, Inc., Publishers.