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Nurturing Peace from the Ashes of Violence

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Maureen Metcalf, CEO of the Innovative Leadership Institute, shared this article as a companion to her podcast with Dr. Mike Hardy, Board Chair of the International Leadership Association, Chair of Intercultural Relations, and a founding Director of the Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations at Coventry University and Hyppolite Ntigurirwa, Ph.D. Candidate at Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations, focusing on preventing conflict and building resilient and peaceful societies, Nurturing Peace from the Ashes of Violence.  Hyppolite survived the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. He later started a foundation for peace in Rwanda. He traveled to America to deliver a series of lectures at universities using theatre to address issues of hatred and racism being transmitted from one generation to the next. This episode was produced in partnership with the International Leadership Association as part of their 25th Annual Global Conference held in October 2023. 

Link to the entire interview:

Listen to the companion interview and past episodes of Innovating Leadership: Co-Creating Our Future via Apple Podcasts, TuneIn, Spotify, Amazon Music, Audible, iHeartRADIO, and NPR One.

In today’s increasingly interconnected and interdependent world, fostering peace and creating positive change is not just a noble aspiration, it’s an absolute necessity. Leaders, in particular, have a crucial role to play in shaping a more empathetic and inclusive world. In our rapidly changing world, cultivating a culture of empathy and love can be a strategic advantage, enhancing social cohesion, boosting productivity, and fostering innovation.

1. Addressing Inequality

Differences in socio-economic status create a divide amongst individuals and communities across the world. These inequalities can become a breeding ground for despair and conflict. So how do we bridge this gap and promote a peaceful co-existence? By cultivating societies that allow for all voices to have influence, we foster an environment of inclusion and equal opportunities, creating a ripple effect toward peaceful co-existence. Mike Hardy, speaks about the importance of dismantling existing resource distribution models, believing firmly that these challenges are surmountable through dialogue and a people-centric approach to negotiations. In fact, the key takeaway here ties in remarkably well with the role each of us can play in our individual capacities. The value of approaching others with empathy and understanding facilitates the creation of peace on a micro level. This practice, multiplied numerous times over, can serve as a catalyst for change on a broader scale. When we look beyond our personal gains and losses and prioritize collective growth, we’re laying down the groundwork for a peaceful society — and that’s what truly matters.

2. Resource Distribution

The world we live in is shaped by the distribution of resources. Whether we’re aware of it or not, the systems we’ve created, the power dynamics that govern us, all trace back to how we allocate and manage our resources. As we face escalating global challenges from climate change to social inequality, it’s clear that the models we have in place are not sustainable. The conversation with Hyppolite and Mike brought forward this critical issue, emphasizing the need for reform. It expressed the urgency to challenge our existing resource distribution models and advocate for a more equitable, sustainable approach where everyone can live dignified lives. Achieving a more equitable resource distribution model requires not just financial investments but emotional support, education, and a change in societal attitudes. Empathy, understanding, and a collective approach can help rectify systemic imbalances. The unsustainable resource distribution models we have in place fuel conflict, perpetuate inequality, and violate human dignity. By rethinking and challenging these models, we have the opportunity to create a more equitable, peaceful world. It will be a monumental task, involving not just governments and businesses but each one of us. It will require us to rewire our attitudes, our ideologies, and question our complacencies. But it is an urgent and necessary pursuit if we yearn for a more inclusive, sustainable, and just world.

3. Power of Education

Education has an undeniable transformative power. It not only equips individuals with knowledge and skills but also imparts values that form the bedrock of one’s character development. In our rapidly evolving world, the significance of education transcends academia, contributing to the broader dynamics of societal progression and change. Growing up in post-genocide Rwanda, Hyppolite saw firsthand how education and supportive systems could be instrumental in healing and rebuilding a society torn apart by conflict. It was education that steered his journey from a genocide survivor to a peace advocate, shaping his worldview and equipping him with the necessary tools to catalyze positive changes. Hyppolite echoes the same sentiment when emphasizing the importance of what we give, rather than what we ask for. He strongly advocates for emotional support and empathy in our interactions with others. This form of education offers a twofold benefit. Firstly, it cultivates a deeper understanding of the surrounding world and its complexities, fostering critical thinking and informed decision-making. Secondly, it nurtures a sense of empathy and humanity that humanizes the ‘other’. The world today is fraught with divisions and conflict, often stemming from deeply ingrained prejudices and a lack of understanding. But, leaders armed with an empathetic and human-centered approach to education can spearhead positive change, bridge divides, and foster sustainable peace.

4. Emphasizing Empathy

In a world that is becoming increasingly divided and polarized, it’s more important than ever to promote an atmosphere of empathy and understanding, fostering a sense of peace and compassion in our immediate and extended communities. Empathy isn’t just about understanding another’s point of view, but feeling with them and acknowledging their experiences, emotions, and realities. It goes beyond mere tolerance and acceptance, requiring an active step towards understanding and sharing the feelings of others. During our conversation, Hyppolite highlighted the power of empathy by sharing his own experiences. A child survivor of the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda, Hyppolite’s journey has been shaped by unimaginable hardships, but he is a testament to the power of empathy, love, and kindness. Hyppolite believes that through empathy, we are able to create spaces for dialogue, understanding, and, ultimately, peace.

Today’s leaders are at the helm of navigating the complexities and challenges faced by societies and communities across the globe. Leaders who incorporate empathy into their leadership style cultivate a culture of understanding, respect, and open communication. Empathetic leaders foster trust and collaboration, which can lead to more sustainable and constructive solutions for the challenges we face. Moreover, an empathetic approach enables leaders to recognize and appreciate the diversity and individual experiences within their teams, thereby promoting inclusivity and equity. Emphasizing empathy, therefore, goes beyond individual relationships and has the potential to transform organizational cultures and societal dynamics at large.

5. Unconditional Love

As we navigate through life, we often ‘box’ love and its outpouring into segments, allocating it where we see fit or where we deem it’s deserved. However, within the context of leadership and fostering peace, setting boundaries and unwavering commitment calls for the practice of unconditional love. Unconditional love helps leaders see beyond initial judgments, nurturing an environment that flourishes on honesty, compassion, and shared humanity. Mike Hardy places emphasis on approaching others with an unyielding commitment to humanity without surrendering oneself to hate or antagonism. Meanwhile, Hyppolite stresses the reciprocal importance of emotional support, epitomizing the heartfelt connection that underlies unconditional love. Through a practice where humanity is cherished and people are encouraged to invest their efforts into the welfare of others, it demonstrates how unconditional love intertwines with the endeavors of empathetic and progressive leaders.

Unconditional love allows you to perceive individuals beyond their flaws, offering a clear insight into their struggles and hopes. It propels you to lead with compassion, to understand even when you disagree, and to hold space for growth — for yourself and for those you guide. Implementing this learning bolsters your interpersonal relationships and enriches your leadership drive resulting in a more positive, encouraging environment for growth, prosperity, and peace. It’s what transforms you from being a leader to an inspiring agent for change and harmony.

The crux of our dialogue couldn’t be more relevant in today’s swiftly evolving global landscape. As leaders, it’s critical to recognize the role we play in shaping society, especially when it comes to fostering peace and driving positive change. The key takeaways from our conversation, namely addressing inequality and challenging existing resource distribution models, are pivotal in creating societies where every voice matters. Moreover, the power of education serves as a cornerstone for social change. But what truly binds these elements together is the emphasis on empathy and unconditional love — the propellers of understanding, compassion, and unwavering commitment. So, let’s make a conscious decision today to model these principles in our leadership. Let’s be the change we wish to see; one decision, one action at a time.

 

ABOUT THE  GUESTS:

Mike Hardy is Chair of Intercultural Relations and a founding Director of the Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations at Coventry University. He is an adjunct professor of leadership at the LSPR Institute of Communications and Business in Jakarta, Indonesia. Mike has been twice honoured in the UK, awarded the OBE in 2001 for his peace-building work in the Middle East, and appointed a Companion of Honour of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the HM Queen’s Birthday Honours June 2010 for his work internationally in Intercultural Dialogue.

Mike is a Board Director and Chair of the International Leadership Association (www.ila-net.org), Chair of Trustees of The Faith and Belief Forum (https://faithbeliefforum.org) the leading interfaith charity in the UK, and life-fellow of the Royal Society for the Arts.

Hyppolite Ntigurirwa survived the genocide against the Tutsi in Rwanda. When he was seven years old Hyppolite, lost many members of his extended family and witnessed the murder of his beloved father. He struggled after the genocide to gain an education and to learn to forgive the killers.

By the age of thirty he had graduated from university in Rwanda and worked as a journalist and radio presenter, a playwright and a theatre director. He raised enough money to travel to England and achieved a Masters Degree in Sociology from Bristol University. He started a foundation for peace in Rwanda, and travelled to America to deliver a series of lectures at universities using theatre to address issues of hatred and racism being transmitted from one generation to the next.

In 2019, Hyppolite became an international news item when he performed a hundred-day walk across 1,500 kilometres of Rwanda to mark the 25th anniversary of the genocide, inviting people to join him and to share their stories of peace and forgiveness.

 

Thank you for reading Innovative Leadership Insights, where we bring you thought leaders and innovative ideas on leadership topics each week.

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Better Leadership, Positive Peace and More Positive Cultures

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Mike Hardy, Board Chair of the International Leadership Association and Professor at Coventry University, Centre for Trust, Peace, and Social Relations, provided this blog as a companion to his podcast Better Leadership to Promote the Positives in Peace and Culture.

Of all the consequences of effective and ethical leadership, a positive impact on peace and peacefulness for us all is the one that matters to me most. The quest for better leadership is a continuing one, and the needs and urgencies for positive impact grow with intensity each year.

As Board Chair of the International Leadership Association I have watched, this year, with humility and astonishment how teams of scholars, business leaders, practitioners and (some) policy makers have strained sinews to elaborate and articulate how those with influence can use it better, and how those with reach can reach more and further.

At the close of the ILA’s Ottawa Global Conference in 2019 I observed how this quest for improvement must be a movement and not a moment. This continuing work needs to be distracted by moments but never stopped by events. We could not have foreseen the unprecedented events of 2020, the challenges for communities and policy-makers alike. But we must remain true to our commitment that better leadership can push us all towards a better world. And we must not be too worried about precise and constraining definitions; better leadership must not just be about doing the right things…but it must also embrace doing things in the right way –a commitment to ethics as well as effectiveness. In the same way a better world must include conditions more likely to deliver both a positive peace and more positive cultures.

A positive peace is far more than the mere absence of violence and conflict. It is a way of being, a set of attitudes, institutions and structures that create and sustain peacefulness in and between communities and societies. Like bad leadership it is often much easier to point out the negatives, the absence of peace. Similarly, positive culture is more than a description of characteristics and identities. It is a set of values, behaviours and attributes that enable and promote human flourishing, reinforce collaborative compassion and peaceful co-existence. We are still struggling to secure both. Both are critical factors for human flourishing –with peace and in peaceful times we can begin to address many of the sources of human insecurity- but often we remain more aware of its absence than its existence. And a positive culture is also elusive –a culture that promotes civic awareness, and participation, social equity and the well-being of a community, hence peacefulness for families and neighbourhoods, can often be more difficult to observe than a malevolent culture that strengthens some groups to initiate and perpetuate exclusion and at times violent conflict.

The COVID-19 pandemic has laid bare our vulnerabilities, divisions, falsehoods and brutal inequalities. Since this global human crisis took its toll on all of us – the forces of division and hate too have been placing the lives of vulnerable communities including religious and ethnic minorities, migrants, women, children and youth, in peril. Even old people and those with disabilities have not been spared. It is especially disheartening to witness a surge in hate speech, xenophobia, racism and many forms of discrimination. These deep fissures in the fabric of our societies weakens our resolve for peace and question what it is about our culture that creates so much room for insecurity.

So, our agenda for better leadership is more vital than ever as a part of a change agenda that promotes the positives in both peace and culture. I have been drawn to a powerful thought from this moment for our movement; a thought captured in a big question:  When this is all over –how do we want the world to be different?

As we battle the COVID-19 pandemic, and the many associated challenges of rising job-losses, deepening economic inequalities, the alarming increase in hate crimes across the world, we need to look beyond the moment and look to how culture and its development can help create a better world of tomorrow.   We need to face up to the real and gloomy conclusion that the distrust and fractured relationships in our neighbourhoods that feel so current in our culture have a common core: a real and hostile divide between people who are regarded as different; a dehumanisation of the “other”.  We seem to have a culture that looks to hold someone else responsible for the moment in which we find ourselves. Despite the crises that we face, we are nowhere near being able to answer this question about how we want the world to be. We know where we do not want to go and be: our social capital –relationships and networks in our communities that encourage calm and harmony, must help rebuild the confidence that the generations that follow will have more not fewer opportunities. And we must restore the beliefs that we once had by default that our created health, education and even financial systems, cherished institutions and welfare state are more than illusions. We must actively banish the dark forces than breed exclusion and divide.

Positive peace and positive cultures matter: a more equal, inclusive culture supports a safer, kinder and more prosperous society. Specific policies to meet the urgent needs of less advantaged groups can deliver a fairer world and lay the foundations for economic recovery and build resilience to future crises.

This is a moment when the convergence of energies towards better leadership and those towards positive peace can create provoke some positive change for the lives of people worldwide. This is not a small agenda -and it is quite a backdrop for our work in growing knowledge and understanding of leadership for a better world. A future world with positive peace and positive culture will help us to re-emphasise our belief in the importance of hope, and it will be through hope we can see evidence of a better future. But even hope will not bring the different world we wish for… that needs direct actions and a new direction and these require more effective and strongly ethical leadership.

Better leadership has two important roles to play: it must help us all to make sense of the turbulences and uncertainties, help shine a clarifying light on our challenges, and it must help us manage the changes that we need and that are taking place.

No small job then! And a compelling reason to make sure that you attend the ILA’s 2020 Global Conference –“Leading at the Edge”

Leading at the Edge
22nd Annual Global Conference
5-8 November 2020 | A Live Online Virtual Event
https://www.ila-net.org/2020Global

 

About the Author

Professor Mike Hardy is the Founding Director of the Centre for Trust, Peace and Social Relations at Coventry University, in the UK. After a distinguished career, he returned to the academic world in 2011 as Professor of Intercultural Relations at Coventry University. Mike is active with UNESCO and the UN Alliance of Civilizations; he is currently lead advisor to the World Forum for Intercultural Dialogue in Baku, the World Peace Forum in Indonesia and directs the RISING Global Peace Forum at Coventry. Professor Hardy has been twice honoured, awarded the Order of the British Empire in 2001 for his peace-building work in the Middle East, and appointed a Companion of Honour of St Michael and St George in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, in June 2010, for his work internationally in Intercultural Dialogue. Mike is a trustee of The Faith and Belief Forum the leading interfaith charity in the UK and Board Chair of the US-based International Leadership Association.