This Week in Global Leadership: Strength in Recovery
Global Leadership Series, Issue 1 | Issue 2 | Issue 3
We continue our series on global leaders who embody "The Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership", of The Leadership Challenge:
This Week: Mark Carney
The world of finance is an ever changing one. From one day to the next, it’s hard for the untrained eye to detect whether a crisis has been averted or needs to be dealt with. In any case, the world has been in a financial panic for the majority of my adult life. Entering this market as a recent college graduate, I am tempted to join in the panic and give in to the resounding fear. However, I see a glimmer of hope, a leader unfettered by the perpetuation of global financial chaos.
Mark Carney, Governor of the Bank of Canada, has been nothing if not level-headed throughout this global recession. He was able to keep Canada’s economy strong enough to avoid the worst impacts of the recession using both caution and confidence. Though I’m not well versed in the details of how Carney was able to achieve this (I am no economist and will not pretend to understand the intricacies of how adjusting interest rates and inflation affects the individual), it is clear to me that with his broad experience in the market and his level-headed decision making, he was able to assist Canada in the recent years of crises enough to keep it one of the strongest economies in the industrialized world.
Before becoming the Governor of the Bank of Canada in 2008, Carney worked with Goldman Sachs in London, Tokyo, New York and Toronto for 13 years. He has degrees in economics from Harvard and a masters and doctorate from Oxford. He is a devoted father, apparently even coaching his daughter at soccer.
There was a fantastic interview with Carney for Reuters just over a year ago (see video here). In the interview, Carney is confident, yet he admits to short-comings with a level of genuine humility that is utterly refreshing in politics. No, he can’t say precisely what the future will bring, but he will do what he can with the skills he has. Truly, Mark Carney is an inspiration, exemplifying strong leadership in tough times with a clear vision for the future and confidence in the process.
We are compiling inspiring leadership examples that will help make our leadership development training, The Leadership Challenge Workshop, resonate with a global audience. We welcome feedback, insight, and examples from our readers.
Image shared under creative commons license.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldeconomicforum/5393267553/