Futures of Social Purpose Leadership
Leadership Lab
Current leadership models and structures are not working in many public sector and nonprofit contexts. Prior to COVID-19, many organizations were struggling to address external factors such as a growing sense of mistrust of public institutions, cybersecurity threats, Canada warming at twice the rate of the global average, and polarized political opinions, creating tension for traditional leadership philosophies. Many of these challenges have been intensified by COVID-19 stresses, a global awakening to the prevalence of systemic racism, financial constraints, and an increased focus on well-being and mental health.
Creative Futures and the Leadership Lab at Toronto Metropolitan University teamed up to to explore the futures of social purpose leadership in 2030.
Our Approach:
Interviews with 31 leaders in public and not-for-profit organizations from the arts, environment, healthcare, post-secondary, government, social services and public policy-related fields.
Insight synthesis into 13 emerging changes impacting the future of leadership in 2030.
Development of three aspirational future scenarios that highlight how challenges leaders are facing today could result in positive change.
Development of a summary report to highlight the futures of social purpose leadership in 2030.
Results:
The report is meant to inspire leaders to work with their colleagues, teams and peers to embrace new leadership practices that enable more effective social purpose teams.
“It was a pleasure working with Jessica and Heather from Creative Futures. Together we researched the future of social purpose leadership and they approached the process with curiosity, objectivity, and a wealth of knowledge on future strategizing. It was fascinating to see them take stock of the current trends and use their expertise to design three possible futures in 2030. Their work is so needed in this day and age and provides a rare opportunity to consider how we can begin to adapt for the future now. ”