Developing 21st Century Glocal Servant Leadership

“Leadership is Everyone’s Business”

James M. Kouzes and Barry Z. Posner

The word glocal is a combination of the words local and global. Manfred Lange, credited with using the term glocal in late 1989, used it during preparations for the Global Change exhibition, and presented a poster on local and global change.  From “Global Talk”, a blog of Timothy Tennent, President of Asbury Theological Seminary, Dr. Tennant states, “The word glocal was first coined with a distinctively Christian application by Roland Robertson in 1995, but was quickly picked up and used by others. It reflects the need for pastoral practice to be both local and global all at the same time, http://blogs.asburyseminary.edu/global-talk/being-a-glocal-preacher .”

So why is developing 21st century glocal leadership so different from developing leadership in the 20th century? Two main differences we will suggest in this short article between these two centuries are:

A large majority of the 20th century, referred to as the Modern Age by historians and others, contained a larger segment of society in general holding to a Christian worldview. This is no longer the case in the 21st century.

Today we live in a Postmodern Age with a Post-Christian worldview. When did this transition take place? Ed Stetzer points out in his book “Planting Churches in a Postmodern Age” that “Some historians identify 1968 as the transition point from modernity to post-modernity.” John Burke in his book “No Perfect People Allowed, Chapter Two: Cynical and Jaded: Results of the Postmodern Experiment” deals with the postmodern experiment in some detail and places its beginning in the 1960’s as well. Burke’s book in this author’s opinion is a must read for any pastor or church leader today on many levels, and this chapter is particularly interesting in gaining some basic historical perspective on how we transitioned from a modern to postmodern age.

The explosion of the Internet in the 1990’s bringing our world closer than ever before through technological advancements in the computer allowing us to access worldwide information  doubling every two years at the click of a mouse, or the touch of keypad.

The explosion of the Internet in the 1990’s bringing our world closer than ever before through technological advancements in the computer allowing us to access worldwide information  doubling every two years at the click of a mouse, or the touch of keypad. No longer does the world revolve our little corner of it. We can cross borders of countries electronically and communicate, investigate, and learn at the speed of light about nations; peoples, customs, social, economic, and governmental systems using search engines such as Google. We do business around the world, pursue higher education, and build relationships through social networks all because of the development of personal computers and worldwide access to the Internet. We live in a global world and as a result today’s Christian leaders need to be actively engaged glocally on many different levels.

We should be aware that as the world shrinks from an information perspective our local world is beginning to become smaller as more and more people of different ethnic backgrounds are beginning to live and work in our small corner of the world. This exposes us to different cultures, social morays, and religions, and at the same time raises issues of how to co-exist together in a healthy and peaceful way while respecting and valuing our differences, and acknowledging our shared commonalities. We are truly becoming a nation, a state, a city, and community influenced by what is happening around the world internationally, in fact, all we have to do is track other countries and their economics and then watch how it affects our stock market to feel the impact on a personal and local level.

Because of finding ourselves living today in communities of diverse races and religions, it becomes imperative that as Christian leaders within this community, we begin to think glocally. What are the implications from a glocal perspective for the Christian who finds himself or herself in a leadership position in a company or organization? What glocal impact does this have for a Christian leader in the church, the marketplace, and home, as we integrate a Christian worldview into our lives in the hopes of being a bridge of connectivity to assist others into crossing over into a personal relationship with Jesus Christ as their Savior and Lord?

From a Christian, church, and business leader perspective, “How Should We Then Live” as the title of the book by the late Dr. Francis Schaeffer suggests. What are the implications as a pastor/leader/elder or layperson in the local church where the Great Commission is concerned when we begin to think glocally? In short, does thinking glocally carry with it greater implications for those of us in 21st century leadership positions from a biblical perspective than our twentieth century counterparts?

Is it possible that as 21st century leaders today that in order for us to not only think glocally, but also understand the proper Christian context for thinking glocally, we may need to reread or read for the first time the following 20th Century books? As a Christian or non-Christian leader, please share your thoughts and opinions on becoming a 21st century glocal leader and the implications for us today from a church and marketplace perspective as you see it.

Tags: 21st Century, Glocal, Leadership