My heart sang when I heard the story of The 13 Indigenous Grandmothers – a living example of global, future-oriented leadership. These 13 wise women from around the globe lead in a circle, rather than a hierarchy. They frame their work on what sustains the next 7 generations. Their goal is to heal Mother Earth and to promote peace. They look to the teachings of their ancestors to light their way through an uncertain future. They seek to share their teachings and wisdom, but not to mix them. Instead they honor each – and learn from each other. They have been doing this work since 2004 – and since then many councils of elders are emerging in Europe, Australia and the Middle East.
The International Council of Thirteen Indigenous Grandmothers was set in motion by a common vision, a prophecy seeded decades ago in many people around the world. One of these seeds was planted in Jyoti. In this vision, the Divine Mother appeared and offered Jyoti a basket with five precious jewels. As she handed it to Jyoti she said, “Take my basket, tend to these precious jewels, do not mix them and do not change them, each jewel represents a line of prayer that goes back to original times. Carry them through the doorway of the new millennium and hand it back to me, for there is something we are going to do.”
Their story prompted me to ask myself these questions about my work:
- Where do I need to collect a circle of wise ones rather than going it alone?
- How often do I frame my work in the next quarter or the next year? What changes when I think about the impact I may have 7 generations from now?
- Am I learning from the past and those that went before me to the extent I need to?
- Is my vision big enough?
- When do I need to respect and honor those with a varying point of view, rather than believe we need to come to agreement or consensus?
What other examples of global, future oriented leadership do you have? Share them – and let us learn from your wisdom.
