INsight/ Who is Family

New Delhi, 14 April 2023 — One Family for you: who is in and who is (still) out.

Story

It happened this year. In the footsteps of the G20 meetings hosted by Indonesia in Bali, India took over the baton with their G20 chairship. These two large Asian countries are showing a markedly different approach and have brought more players together in solving the global issues that mark our time. They have rolled out new initiatives as part of the G20 process, to work closer together, with inclusion, and for peace, adding religious leaders, civil society, and women to the traditional list of meetings of ministers and heads of state. An approach that is setting a helpful example, in my view.  

The different approach was evident in the discussions I had at an international peace leadership conference in New Delhi this week. Leaders from countries around the world met to explore practical ways of collaborating for good from a (much) broader perspective, inspired by time-tested philosophies such as India’s Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Indonesia’s Pancasila, Bhinneka Tunggal Ika and Tri Hita Karana, Korea’s Hongik Ingan, China’s Dao and Confucianism, Africa’s Ubuntu, and many more. 

One way to sum up these philosophies is the motto chosen by India for the G20 chairship: One Earth – One Family – One Future. So how was the lofty vision of One Family applied? I saw how it helped participants, including me, to connect with each other more easily and work on a wide range of developmental policies and projects, from improving education to conserving the environment and empowering entrepreneurship for young leaders in startups. While the One Family approach deeply resonated with me, I was curious how to make it work effectively and sustainably, considering that even in families there can be rivalry, discord, and members working in isolation from each other.

Challenge

Speakers at the conference highlighted the many crises we face in our world today. A religious leader from Indonesia said that in conflicts and war, we “lose humanity, respect, and tolerance.” A speaker from India said that our choice is to either “live in peace or in pieces.” Something to think about. One senior participant shared with me that India, with the world’s largest population, 65% of which are youth, has a difficult transformation on its hands because of rising inequality in society. A reorientation on human values, he said, was urgently needed.

With its important role in G20, what happens in India is illustrative of the challenges faced by the Global South, where three-fourths of humanity lives. Will the ancient One Family philosophy of India help to draw the G20’s attention to forging a reorientation on human values and peace this year? The answer to this question may be more important than we realize. Not just for national leaders in our turbulent times, but also for all leaders who are keen on influencing positive change in their workplaces, communities, and societies. It is important to reflect on using Asia’s philosophies that have the potential to bridge divides and bring people together, in peace rather than pieces. To make that happen, why not ask yourself the question who is already in your One Family, and who is still out, so that you can work on bringing them in?

As the conference was drawing to a close, a large number of young leaders were still sitting in the back, and were referred to as such (youth sitting in the back) by the speakers on the podium, most of whom were older men, who implied that the youth could be leaders in the future. That made me wonder if such a narrow interpretation of the One Family model could hold up in Asian countries with a large youth dividend, like India. Spending a day of intensive discussions with the young leader participants reaffirmed my belief that the only possibility to solve our world’s problems is by bringing Generations Z Y X and Boomers together in new ways of collaboration. Working with my colleagues in the Global Water Partnership Southeast Asia, we decided to call that Crossgen — meaning that each generation will get out of their comfort zones to deliberatively Cross the boundaries between the generations and enter into a new era of working together with mutual respect and curiosity. 

Question

Crossgen is easier said than done. After the conference plenary had already ended, two young leaders, one from India and one from Indonesia, came to the stage to jointly read out the action agenda prepared by the group of young leader participants earlier. The way these highly capable young professionals presented was totally different from what we heard earlier from the speakers of older generations, and it instantly electrified the participants who were still there. Implicitly, the case for Crossgen Collaboration was made crystal clear. Unfortunately, however, almost all of the high-level speakers had already left by that time.

Summing up, the world’s wisdom traditions, including those in Asia, provide inspiring and very helpful frameworks for all of us on our One Earth to bring us together as One Family for the One Future we desire to see. To get going, however, each generation can interpret these in their own ways, with the risk of generations continuing to work separately in their silos (in this case, in different conference rooms). The best way forward is to Crossgen and collaborate from the start and throughout the process. That’s how we can expect to be more successful. By expanding whom we welcome into our One Family. That requires a deliberate change of mindset and practices on how to run workplace meetings as well as conferences.

Tackling our world’s complex problems today, including climate change and conflicts, cannot be done without Crossgen Collaboration. My question for you this week is what you can do as a leader to Cross the generational boundaries in your workplace and introduce new ways of Crossgen Collaboration, starting with your team, to make your One Family bigger step by step. If you are curious and committed to making this happen, I would love to hear from you about your experiences. Please reach out to get in touch. And if you would like to grow into a leader who can cross boundaries, including among generations, book a Free Strategy Call to discuss how you can design your next leadership transition.