Black Meetings and Tourism

May/June 2013

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•pg_14-22__BMT_pg3-58 6/21/13 9:09 PM Page 22 OPEN FORM CARIBBEAN ECONOMIST CALLS FOR AWAKENED LEADERSHIP The major crises afflicting the planet can be traced directly to a chronic lack of "awakened leadership", according to a Caribbean leader. "From armed conflicts in Darfur in Africa to the enduring poverty in Port-au-Prince in the Caribbean, more effective leadership is the single most important ingredient for progress and relief," asserted Zhivargo Laing, an economist and director of Laing Consulting and Research Group. "In the best of times sound leadership is important; in the worst of times it is simply critical," he asserted. ZHIVARGO LAING And, not just any type of leadership, Laing added: "Leaders across the globe, most especially in the realms of politics and business, must awaken to the importance of their role in addressing the pressing issues of our time." "Awakened leadership," he elaborated, "means an end to ego-driven decision making. It requires putting aside thoughts dedicated to selfserving ambitions divorced from the real needs of community." Poor leadership is costly for people and for countries, contended the former finance minister of The Bahamas: "Some African, Latin 22 American, Caribbean and European states, endowed with enormous natural and human resources could be far better off, and even global players, if their leadership was kinder to their responsibilities." Lamenting the fact that many leaders are not fully equipped for the awesome task confronting them, the former cabinet minister said "experience in leading a nation is rare for the first-time president or prime minister." "Sound leaders were those who "lead by faith, focus, awareness, intelligence, and honesty. Sound leaders are also conscious leaders," he said.\ "Conscious leaders acknowledge their limitations and augment them through learning, training, consultation and cooperation with others. They are meditative, reflective and deliberative," he added. An important element of conscious leadership, Laing observed, is managing succession: "Conscious leaders know that one of their essential duties is to develop the next generation of leaders. Even with the best of leadership, the world will remain a problematic place. This means that leaders will be needed continuously to head the charge to address problems." "The enduring problems of our world, be it the global food crisis or the ripple effects of the US debt crisis, are not easy to resolve," he averred, "however, this much is certain: our prospects for successfully addressing them improves with sound, awakened and conscious leadership." B M & T ••• May/June 2013 ••• www.blackmeetingsandtourism.com

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