Practising worldly leadership requires us to have taken the first step of reflection. Only when we understand how our context shapes our experiences can we really understand why there can’t be a universal approach to leadership.
Understanding context is not easy – we need to be observant, to analyse what we see, and to ask the right questions. It also drives us to recognise and challenge our own bias. The worldly mindset helps us connect with people who are different from us (because of age, position, culture, etc.), and gives us tools to work in complex and diverse environments.
We practise this mindset to:
• Get inside the worlds of others, understand their needs and concerns more deeply.
• Develop and demonstrate empathy
• Understand how our values and behaviours align with the expectations of different environments.
• Create and adapt our frame of reference based on contextual information.
• Adapt our leadership to be relevant to local conditions
• Recognise unconscious bias and avoid generalising and stereotyping.
• Avoid adopting a one-size-fits-all approach.
• Consistently champion diversity and inclusivity.
• Understand how to work with complex, diverse contexts, in the setting of a single Movement.
• Evaluate leadership actions in local and global contexts, and connect local outcomes to the global mission of WAGGGS.