In a recent issue of Newsweek was an interesting story regarding the leadership in China entitled “China’s Changing Face: Managing a rising power’s move to center stage.” When power shifted from the Mao to Deng dynasty, a major shift in leadership accompanied. No longer was China in a state of paranoia and control as a result of the killings and persecutions of those who were perceived as acculturated by a foreign land (hence the cultural cleansing during the late 60’s and 70’s). The leadership style transitioned to being more open and accepting, to the point that forms of capitalism were allowed, more openness to religion existed, and communist law was relaxed. This shift has lead to a dynamic 30-year development period, similar to England’s struggle during the birth and fruition of the industrial revolution – that took 200 years, though! On an ever-shrinking globe, leadership makes a difference in less time and on a grander scale than in previous history. One exception might be Alexander the Great.

 

The vista is changing rapidly, nationally, and globally. Are leader’s prepared and/or preparing for the wave of global change? Nationalism is on the rise and military colonialism is being replaced by economic colonialism, where foreign investors and foreign government “companies” are setting up shop around the world by investing in a plethora of businesses including financial institutions.

 

Now for the big questions – with so many different players with varied ethical standards, who will help set the standard of global leadership and business ethics? Who will set the trend and provide the persuasive tone to create an appropriate model of ethical leadership?