Beyond the Echo Chambers: Leadership for a Fragmented World
Relevance
There is an urgent need for leaders to foster a culture of principled leadership, critical thinking, and moral courage in an era marked by scientific dominance, moral relativism, and individualism, which together contribute to a fragmented and crisis-ridden world. Only through embracing difficult conversations, advocating for purpose over self-interest, and promoting values that transcend profit and performance can leaders effectively navigate the current global metacrisis and inspire societal transformation towards greater truth, beauty, and goodness.
A crisis of leadership
In a compelling critique of contemporary leadership, Alexander Karp and Nicholas Zamiska—respectively CEO and Head of Corporate Affairs at Palantir Technologies—argue that the times call for bolder, more principled leaders who are willing to entertain difficult conversations and promote purpose over self-interest. Writing in Time, they condemn an education system that churns out “ineffectual and often hollow vessels”: leaders who lack interior lives, critical thinking, and moral courage; who parrot prevailing views and demonstrate little conviction beyond self-promotion and the pursuit of power. Paradoxically, organisations “broadcast their views on issues affecting our moral or interior lives” into the conversational vacuum.
Karp and Zamiska starkly contrast leaders of previous eras—who defended the rights of people to hold abhorrent views in the name of free speech, citing Aryeh Neier, the Jewish ACLU executive who supported the rights of Nazis to march in Skokie, Illinois—with those ineffective leaders who lead universities while failing to condemn clear anti-Semitism on their own campuses.
Modern leaders lack interior lives, critical thinking, and moral courage; parrot prevailing views and demonstrate little conviction beyond self-promotion and the pursuit of power
They argue Silicon Valley leaders demonstrate this same lack of conviction, largely avoiding engagement on political or controversial issues out of fear of offence. This aversion to meaningful debate exposes the shallowness of the Valley’s virtue signalling, detached from any real moral purpose. Just as university leaders failed to stand up for their stated values of truth and freedom when it mattered, tech leaders—who envisage a future solved and saved by their technology—hide behind lofty mission statements rather than speaking or acting courageously on today’s most pressing questions. As Karp and Zamiska observe, ‘do no evil’ died a quiet death at Google.
Confronting the crisis with courage
The article confirms the thesis we have been advancing at Sensemaking:
we live in an age dominated by scientism, moral relativism, and individualism, leaving us poorly equipped to respond to the metacrisis: an interconnected set of global crises across the economy and environment, geopolitics and global health, social cohesion, and shared beliefs.
An intellectual vacuum and moral void fosters the conditions for a nihilistic world devoid of belief in anything beyond the self.
Our times need bold leaders who are willing to engage in difficult discussions and advocate for purpose over self-interest. If not, we face a dystopian future where truth and tolerance surrender to ambition, lies, and intolerance. Openness, and encouragement to questioning, and challenging, assumptions may represent society's best defence against ethical stagnation and social fragmentation. Binary thinking, and the utilitarian maxim of the greatest good for the greatest number, needs to be replaced by a richer, more nuanced set of beliefs and values that can guide society through its challenges.
We live in a unique moment in history: the convergence of socio-cultural, political, and generational cycles is colliding with a growing metacrisis, in a deeply interconnected world. The cycles are spawned by seismic shifts in the complex interaction and integration of belief systems, economics, education, and political trends, causing a shift in our culture and ways of being community together, which in turn fosters the crises. The confluence of multiple global crises, across the economy, environment, geopolitics, armed conflict, social cohesion, and leadership creates an overarching metacrisis. It was once said of the economy that when the US sneezes the world catches a cold. Now turmoil in Europe sends shockwaves into the world, fire in the Middle East ignites a blaze in Western democracies, and a cough in China can turn city centres into ghost towns.
One consequence of the prevailing long-term socio-cultural cycle is the elevation of science to faith, and the rise of the scientific class as gods and high priests. The pandemic response was driven by ‘following the science’, while those who asked sensible questions were accused of risking lives in their ignorance. Consequently, many leaders fear speaking out on issues today because they may be unable to respond to the immediate question: “where is the evidence?”, or the more direct “prove it”. Worse, they risk accusations of bias, bigotry or blind spots.
Further, the convergence of economic and generational cycles is feeding political distrust and instability, making it difficult to form cross-party coalitions of the willing to address the serious issues that confront our society.
Expending our energy and resources on fixing a rolling series of crises can prevent us grasping the context and the causes of these crises. Ultimately, they are the consequences of the way we think. Hence, any solution lies in changing our thinking: and the key to changing our thinking is to change our behaviour, and the key to changing our behaviour is to change our values.
Pathways to principled leadership
Karp and Zamiska confirm that the values of nihilism, self-preservation, power, prestige, success, instrumentalism, conformity, and moral relativism dominate debate. How then might we respond? The answer is not to address these directly, but rather foster the conditions for people to develop a true interior and intellectual life, and for society to value moral courage, freedom, responsibility and the common good. It’s quite easy. Imagine if we were to celebrate those who stand for truth, and beauty and goodness.
Not one of the relentless challenges we confront as a society, a nation, and a world, can be solved by dividing into the ‘for’ and ‘against’ team. Not one of the difficult debates confronting our polity can be solved by adopting a strictly liberal or conservative position. Not one of the cascading crises bearing down on us can be solved by a system that values profit and performance, and separates winners from losers.
celebrate those who stand for truth, and beauty and goodness
We cannot ‘solve’ the metacrisis, but we can survive it. And we can thrive on the other side. The key is to lift our eyes to the horizon of truth and beauty and goodness, to values that transcend this moment and this situation, and allow them to guide our thinking and acting.
Ultimately, what is required is a new form of self-sacrificial leadership that promotes human dignity, fosters human flourishing, encourages personal responsibility, strengthens relationships, and serves a noble purpose. This kind of leadership can fill the moral vacuum and provide the moral clarity we require at this pivotal moment in history.
Response
What might this mean for you in your daily life? Here are some suggestions for developing the principled leadership the world needs now—and inspiring others by your example:
Foster critical thinking and moral courage
Take the time to educate yourself about the issues, and ensure that you can argue for every position: this means you truly understand. Having equipped yourself with questions and perspectives, you can then find the courage to enter the conversation.
Don’t shy from the difficult conversations
Sometimes people express their point of view strongly, and in a way that limits debate. Ask if there might be other perspectives. Ask if they understand why people might hold a different point of view. You don’t need to be confrontational, just conversational.
Advocate for purpose-driven leadership
Set your direction by a North Star, by a defining purpose, and then lead by example: embody the principles of purpose-driven leadership in your life and work. This means particularly finding a noble, rather than utilitarian, purpose.
Contribute to a culture of appreciation for truth, beauty, and goodness
Always ask the question: Where is truth, or beauty, or goodness, in this person, this moment, this environment? Point it out when you see it. Help others realise, recognise, and celebrate these transcendent values, and make choices that embody these ideals.