Many people often argue that defining what is "good" and "bad" is either a matter of personal opinion or simple adherence to universal rules and compliance codes. However, we take a different stance. In an increasingly complex and interconnected world, we believe that emphasizing personal liberty or rigid adherence to universal rules, or even the promotion of sustainability frameworks, is insufficient to pursue a better future. Instead, we believe that we must nurture the capacity of individuals and organizations to become virtuous and responsible citizens-at-work. This involves embodying qualities like wisdom, inter-independence, compassion, justice and to promote generative dialogue. For us, "good" implies consistently acting in ways that enable social flourishing - of oneself, others, society, and the environment. Therefore, good leadership necessitates the ongoing development of character, virtues, and excellence, at all levels, along with measures to prevent leaders from causing unnecessary harm to the world.

We define Good Leadership as a "systemic process of generative collective learning and action to create a Good Society - catalyzed by Good Leaders" (see image above). Good Leadership transcends individual leaders, focusing on enhancing the collective capacity of organizations to act interdependently for the greater good of people, society and the planet. It necessitates the "nodal" co-elevation of leaders, organizations, and ecosystems - fostering communal inspiration and the upholding of virtues, moral identity and character - to enable collective and ecological flourishing.

• Good Society: Our journey begins with envisioning the future we aspire to. Good leadership involves the collaborative shaping of a "good society," striving to achieve equitable and sustainable prosperity and justice for all.
• Good Economy: We must re-embed our economy within society. A "good economy" must serve society to develop its highest potential through "good work".
• Good Organizations: Leadership is always intertwined with its "institutional" environment. To foster good work, we must intentionally develop organizations, supporting individual growth, nurturing and co-elevating communities, and evolving governance, structures, policies, routines, norms, and incentives. Only if good organisations "create" good people, will we also create sustainable products and services.
• Good Leaders: No organization can genuinely thrive without committed, capable and virtuous individuals. Continual role and job design, selection, and ongoing shared development of leaders are of paramount importance.

Despite substantial annual investments in traditional leadership development, many training efforts ultimately prove ineffective. Often, they lack essential support from the leader's team and organization, overlook the holistic development needs of individuals, neglect responsible organizational and systemic change, and lack integration into a sustained learning process. Moreover, these programs often fall short in aligning with validated research and integrating personal development, leadership role specifics, and best practices for transformation.

In contrast, our innovative approach is centered on continual and collaborative action learning, striving for excellence at both the organizational and individual levels. We draw from various disciplines, including social and individual psychology, philosophy, management science, and medicine, to cultivate leaders' skills, character, and practical wisdom. Our model emphasizes practice-oriented, community-integrated learning rooted in research provided by the Good Leadership Institute. Members follow personalized learning pathways covering personal, cognitive, relational, and moral capacities, facilitating transformation for systemic impact. We actively involve our members in shaping these practices and provide support for specific change or volunteer projects. Our approach offers a lifelong journey of learning, guiding members to discover "the leader within" with the guidance of experienced peers. We also offer support for career development and continuity, contributing to the growth of members and the Society as a whole.

Leadership plays a pivotal role in driving positive societal transformation. However, leadership is a systemic capacity and our current fragmented and often haphazard attempts to improve the skills and capabilities of individual leaders are insufficient. We need to co-create a collaborative effort to establish a platform for systemic change that unites the positive actions of individuals, organizations, and societies. Many leaders lack the necessary tools, skills, or support to make their best personal impact. Businesses often lack credible approaches to positively transform their organisations and, as a result, continue to single-mindedly pursue stock market returns, disconnected from the well-being of their communities. Governments lack credible counterparts, or are influenced by special interests when it comes to shaping the regulatory environment for the economy. Therefore, our Society is dedicated to bringing together the collective endeavors of good leadership across all levels. We aim to establish a powerful, lifelong, and trusted global association of peers who reflect, grow and learn together, and seek to transform themselves and their organisations to craft a better society for all.

We stand as the natural "home" for all leaders, hailing from any type of organizations or background, who are wholeheartedly dedicated to the pursuit of personal and organizational transformation. Our members are welcomed for a lifetime, becoming integral parts of a thriving community that collectively commits to serving as stewards of a brighter future of work. In unity, we aim to: a) empower our organizations to generate positive value for stakeholders, society, nature, and future generations; b) weave networks of organizations and engage with other civic entities to catalyze societal advancement; c) provide the nurturing space for our members' personal growth. Every leadership role is a significant opportunity to impact the lives of others and contribute to making the world a better place, and as a Society, our unwavering commitment is to support one another in seizing these opportunities.

The Leadership Society stands as a professional association with a firm commitment to promoting leadership excellence and developing the fullest potential of individuals, organizations, and society. Prospective members gain entry through a formal initiation process, which includes a character-focused entrance examination conducted with a senior member, followed by a trial period. All members pledge to uphold the professional code and practices of good leadership within their roles and actively contribute to the ongoing progress of the association. The Society operates as a collaborative and collegial organization, designed by professionals for professionals. Importantly, every member possesses voting rights in all pertinent assemblies.

The Leadership Society extends a warm welcome to all organizations deeply dedicated to nurturing leadership excellence and effecting positive change, within and beyond their own boundaries. New organizational members are anticipated to subject their leadership roles to rigorous professional standards and ongoing development. Moreover, these organizations must be willing to actively foster an environment conducive to experimentation and the evaluation of sound leadership practices and transformative organizational approaches. All resulting good practices are collaboratively developed and shared with the Good Leadership Institute to ensure the highest possible professional standards and active dissemination within the Society. Importantly, the Society also promotes and facilitates inter-organizational collaborations as well as active engagement with local communities and volunteer initiatives, to foster synergetic efforts to improve both local and global economy.

Guilds are envisaged to be groups of members based on shared interest and expertise (sector, type of organisation etc). Their focus lies on creation and dissemination of good practices and policies. They would by enabled by a central research team ("Good Institute") to provide a reliable and validated knowledge management framework and platform. 

Chapters are meant to be a loosely federated network of local associations of members who subscribe to the Society charter, while being focussed on local or shared positive action. All chapters would be organised based on democratic principles and participation of all members.

We empower engaged research projects by

• Matching researchers with interested organisations
• Enabling peer-driven research by bringing society members and researchers together
• Ensuring the dissemination of research for a wide audience 

We support organisations and teams by ensuring their experiment yield superior insights through

• Experimental validation strategies
• Key indicators for measuring the progress towards good
• Desktop research capacities 

We develop, qualify and certify our service and content partners with

• Evidence-based evaluation methods to qualify the effectiveness of the development methods to
• Availabilities for co-learning whereby partners can become part of our research projects. 

We raise the impact of our evaluation partners by

• Providing access to our organisational members
• Offering co-services with our Academy
• Sharing our insights on new good practices generated by members