Wake Up: You Were Sleepwalking Again

 

What?

I have been asleep. Though you may not have realized it, you may be too. Though it may go unspoken, it may not be so unheard of to be sleepwalking through our moral experience (Novogratz, 2020). As the world becomes increasingly interconnected, between cultures and countries and communities, the disparities between such can quickly become more apparent. When looking onto a scenario, especially one we are far removed from, we can sometimes pass judgement. If every single life is its own puzzle, we can sometimes forget that the pieces from our puzzles do not fit everyone else’s; this is where moral principles meet imagination (Manolescu, 2025). We take the issue of energy poverty for example. Novogratz speaks of her work with d.light, a company whose mission is to bring energy to those without (Novogratz, 2020). When she tries to bring their solar lantern to Bahawalpur, she sees the missing puzzle piece of electricity and assumes the piece that will fit is the solar lantern (Novogratz, 2020). This exemplifies the moral portion of seeing someone in need and thinking you have the solution to fulfill that need. It was after that, her interactions with the people she was trying to help, when she realizes that they had a greater need for fans over lighting (Novogratz, 2025). This is where the imagination portion comes in: applying our perspective or feelings to what is seen and tangible (Manolescu, 2025).

 

So, What?

I briefly mentioned the interconnectedness of a global society. This is where we have the opportunity to see more stories different than ours: this is not innately negative or positive but are the experiences that help shape us. Moral imagination is not just a global phenomenon, but something applicable to our own communities. I think about every decision I have made in efforts to help someone: donating gifts at Christmas, food drives, making donations, etc. I think about these individual experiences and how I never asked if what I was giving was what they needed. You see someone without a Christmas tree, you buy them one and assume that is a needed good deed. Most of the time, you never even ask. And that is where you must start: by asking. Beyond asking, you must be prepared to hear whatever answer they give. Beyond our communities, how does this connect to global leadership? As transnational leadership increases, as with leaders immigrating from other countries, so does the opportunity for those who want to serve to a united purpose to do so. This is a great mission to seek to accomplish, serving the global population, not just protecting the “profit for the few” but flourishing “prosperity for the many” (Novogratz, 2020). This can become a complacent part of the “say-do gap” (Cox & Warn, 2022). Using the puzzle analogy, what seems to be an obvious or traditional solution may not resolve such complex issues as the ones faced in communities. This is the listening part: so that we can develop an understanding of past traditional solutions to more applicable ones. It cultivates in a restructuring of values and a calibration of one’s moral compass.

Now What?

I am not a global leader. I may never have an opportunity to lead in a larger setting than I do right now; to lead across national and international bounds. However, I hold the values that global leadership represents. While I want success for my community, country, self even, I do not want that if it is detrimental to another and believe we must work together to find what is best for everyone. When I hear the phrase “the greater good,” I think of superhero movies; yet it is a phrase that my brain always comes back to in discussing global leadership and even more so with moral imagination. We will not and cannot always know what is for the greater good, but as a leader, it is something to move cautiously towards. Even on a small scale, such as the plane of which I work, we cannot assume what is good for the goose is good for the gander. To step even further into the analogy, we cannot assume what is good for a goose is good for all geese. In my career, I cannot assume that what one child, one person, one family needs is what all children, people or families need. I must ask, then listen; I must allow my subjective experiences and perceptions to shape the way I lead, not encase the way I lead in cement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

References

Cox, M. & Warn, J. Leadership Challenges From The Edge of Experience in The Global Crisis Context. In Perruci, G. (Ed.). The study and practice of global leadership. (pp. 89-112). Emerald Publishing Limited.

Manolescu, D. (2024). Imagination is the door to amazement and moral imagination holds the key to unlock it. Journal of Critical Studies in Language and Literature, 6(1), 46–51. https://doi.org/10.46809/jcsll.v6i1.319

Novogratz, J. (2020). Manifesto for a moral revolution: practices to build a better world (First edition.). Henry Holt and Company.