GLOBAL LEADERSHIP LECTURE SERIES General Editor: Suheil Bushrui
Leadership in a Global Age: The Thoughts and Work of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales by Professor David Cadman
Center for Heritage Resource Studies University of Maryland 2008
Published with the gracious permission of Professor David Cadman. This publication is sponsored by the Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace Project at the Center for Heritage Resource Studies in the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, the University of Maryland. Copyright 2008. All rights reserved. This book may not be reproduced, in whole or in part, in any form (beyond that copying permitted in Sections 107 and 108 of the U.S. Copyright Law and except by reviewers for the public press), without written permission of Professor David Cadman.
Leadership in a Global Age: The Thoughts and Work of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales by Professor David Cadman
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Foreword by the Editor Professor David Cadman’s lecture, delivered on 10 April 2008 and entitled “Leadership in a Global Age: The Thoughts and Work of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales”, was long overdue. For the last fifteen years, His Royal Highness has been warning us about the growing dangers threatening our society. He attributed the loss of balance and harmony in our lives to “the pursuit of a narrow, harsh, and mechanistic view of the world”. His Royal Highness was ahead of his time in recognising the need for a holistic approach in response to the major problems that currently face the human race, and emphasised the importance of the spiritual dimension in solving these problems. There was a vehement opposition to many of these ideas when they were first expressed by His Royal Highness. It is remarkable, however, that these same ideas of a holistic approach—to the environment, agriculture, medicine, architecture, and education—are now being enthusiastically adopted. The thoughts of His Royal Highness were inspired by his belief in those eternal values and principles that have sustained humanity throughout history. These “eternal values and principles” known otherwise as the Perennial Philosophy, also inspired Kathleen Raine, perhaps the greatest woman-poet in the English language, to seek the patronage of His Royal Highness when she decided to establish the Temenos Academy. Professor Cadman and I joined her in that endeavour and worked with her until her passing in 2003. The first among the ten basic principles on which the Temenos Academy is founded is also the very foundation of the philosophy of His Royal Highness; namely, The acknowledgement of the holiness of divinity, which is beyond all, yet is accessible to each. Suheil Bushrui Professor and Director Kahlil Gibran Chair for Values and Peace Project
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Leadership in a Global Age: The Thoughts and Work of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales by Professor David Cadman Introduction My dear brother Suheil, ladies and gentleman, it is very kind of you to have invited me to your university. This afternoon I very much enjoyed a discussion with faculty and students of the Center for International Development and Conflict Management and the Academy of Leadership on “the matter of peace” – from which I learnt a great deal. I then had the pleasure of meeting your distinguished President, Dan Mote and Dean Edward Montgomery, the Dean of the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences, who has so kindly introduced me this evening. I am, of course, here this evening entirely at the behest of my brother, Professor Suheil Bushrui who has not only commanded my presence but also told me what it is that I should talk about. The subject that he has chosen for me is “The Thoughts and Work of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales”. I had hoped – perhaps somewhat recklessly – that I might be allowed to speak about my own thoughts, but one of the burdens of being the “Scribe” of His Royal Highness is that, for some reason, which you might share, people are more interested in hearing what he might have had said had he been here than in what I might say even though I am here – if you see what I mean. As it happens, I am, of course, delighted and honoured to speak about His Royal Highness – not least because I believe that he has things to say that are of the utmost importance to the conditions in which we find ourselves now in the twenty-first century and amidst what we might call “our present difficulties”. * In 2006, Professor Bushrui and I co-edited an archive volume that was published by this university under the title of Selected Speeches and Articles by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.1 Not, I would agree, a very “catchy” title – but it does what it says on the cover, and it contains, in addition to the selected texts, a number of the Prince’s water colours. As you may know, there is also to be an Arabic version of this publication, as the university wants to ensure that these texts are read not only in the English-speaking 1
Selected Speeches and Articles by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Ed. David Cadman and Suheil Bushrui, The Center for Heritage Resource Studies, The University of Maryland, 2006.
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world but also throughout Arabic-speaking communities. In addition, the university is launching a new course, jointly offered by the Center for Heritage Resource Studies and the Academy of Leadership. The title of this course is to be “Leadership in a Global Age: The Thoughts and Work of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales” – hence the title of my contribution this evening. Professor Bushrui and I undertook the task of preparing this archive because we felt that, given his rather unusual position in life, there were a number of particular qualities about His Royal Highness that were of particular interest in the study of leadership: • The first quality is: that midst all the inevitable distractions of his life, His Royal Highness has given expression to principles of coherence and meaning. • The second quality is: that His Royal Highness has ever been driven not only by a profound concern for others but by an insistence that debate must lead to action. • The third quality is that, in all of this, and within the constraints imposed upon him by his position in life, His Royal Highness has led the way in drawing attention to matters that, when he first spoke of them, were thought to be highly speculative but which are now accepted as being undeniably true. What I therefore intend to do in the brief time that I have is this: to identify the core principles upon which His Royal Highness works and, in so doing, to give some examples (with particular reference to what we now call “the environmental crisis”) of what I believe are his foresight and leadership – to make the case, as it were, that he deserves to be heard. In this I shall also refer to some particular speeches that His Royal Highness has given since the archive volume was completed. * Order, Balance and Harmony In essence, His Royal Highness sees the world as being shaped by principles of Order, Balance and Harmony. The articulation of these principles goes back a very long way, at least as far back as the teachings of Plato and, indeed, beyond; and they are also at the root of all of the great religious traditions, part of the “sophia eternis”, the eternal wisdom. At the same time, they are utterly modern in that they reflect our growing concern with our relationship with what we refer to as “the environment” but which both His Royal Highness and I would call “Nature”. -5-
Let me put this in his own words – this is a passage taken from his Foreword to Speeches and Articles: …I have devoted my life so far to a concerted effort to remind people of the essential need to restore the lost harmony in our lives and, above all, rehabilitate that ancient balance between the inner and outer dimensions of our existence; between our much abused intuitive powers and those of our rational consciousness. Both these powers are, in my view, God-given and it should be the sacred duty of mankind to reconcile them in order to produce what used to be called wisdom.2 This wisdom is surely the bedrock of civilization… So, we start with Order, Balance and Harmony. Now, of course, in making this proposition, His Royal Highness is sometimes criticised as being “old fashioned” or yearning the past. But this entirely misses the point. The principles that govern his view of the world are not “old” they are “timeless”. And the tradition of which he speaks is not one of a dead past but one that is ever present and alive – if we could but see it. If His Royal Highness refers to things that are “ancient” it is because they have a long-established provenance and were, perhaps, better understood in the past than they are now. He would certainly argue that, in a world shaped exclusively by what we might call “the scientific mode”, we have lost touch with important principles that were much more an inherent part of the lives of our forebears. And, please note, this is not to deny that modern science has delivered many things that make our lives better – of course, it has. Indeed, His Royal Highness goes to great lengths – again and again – to make clear that he accepts that this is so. But he does say that in living our lives to the full the language of science is not enough – it is necessary but not sufficient. So this is the first principle – Order, Balance and Harmony. The Matter of Action There is then, a second principle, and that is the matter of “Action”. One of the most striking aspects of the work of His Royal Highness is his insistence upon finding practical solutions to the problems that he comes across. Not just discussion and a report but Action. The most well known example of this is probably his work with The Prince’s Trust. In 1976, more than 30 years ago, he used his severance pay from the Navy, literally the princely sum of £7,400, to set up a Trust to help young people who would otherwise not have the opportunity to fulfil 2
Ibid, 6.
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their potential. This Trust now raises and spends over £50 million a year, with 12,000 or so volunteers and staff, helping young people to deal with problems of unemployment, dependency, crime and poor basic skills. It helps young people start new businesses, capitalize on their passions and develop motivation and self-confidence. The results are spectacular. Indeed, I think that I am right in saying that over the last 30 years the Trust has helped half a million young people and has helped to start up something like 60,000 new businesses – not, perhaps, something that you always hear about in the pages of the press! Other practical initiatives with which you may be less familiar are, of course, his work with Business in the Community, his Foundation for Integrated Health and the two with which I have been most involved, The Prince’s School of Traditional Arts and The Prince’s Foundation for the Built Environment. This last is a good example of the foresight of His Royal Highness. One of his most famous – or should I say infamous – speeches is, of course, what is sometimes called “the carbuncle speech”, the speech in which he referred to a proposal for an extension to the National Gallery in London’s Trafalgar Square as being like a “carbuncle on the face of a much loved friend”. Made over 20 years ago by, one should recognise, a much younger man, this speech raised the hackles of professional architects and planners, many of whom have never forgiven him. However, leaving aside the “carbuncle” itself, the speech was the beginning of many years of work to try and find (or re-express) a form of architecture and urban design that was beautiful and of human scale. Much derided and criticised, this timeless articulation of the principles of proportion – Order, Balance and Harmony – with its focus on people and communities has now, of course, and 20 years later, become accepted as the root of all good urban development and regeneration. Indeed, it was and is the foundation of our government’s “urban renaissance” and its programme of “sustainable communities”. The other major area in which, despite criticism and even ridicule, he has led opinion is, of course, that which is related to what we now call “the environmental crisis” and which, most spectacularly, includes the problems of Climate Change. The Prince’s interest in these matters goes back 30 years to a time when they were not as “fashionable” as they are today, with politicians of all colours trying to turn into various shades of green. Indeed, some fifteen or so years ago, His Royal Highness made a film for the BBC entitled Earth in Balance in which he discussed matters that were then spoken of by few but which are now talked about all the time – global -7-
warming, the fate of the rain forests, the loss of flora and fauna, increasing population growth and so on. At the beginning of his film, His Royal Highness suggested that mankind faces what he called “a reckoning” and that time might not be on our side. Even then, he pointed to what he saw as “a crisis of values”; to an arrogance, if you like, spawned not least by our growing selfishness and our increasing distance from Nature. One of the “guests” in that film was none other than Senator Al Gore whose recent film on the matter of Climate Change entitled An Inconvenient Truth has caused such a flutter in America and elsewhere around the world – if you have not seen it, I suggest that you do so, but remember, of course, that His Royal Highness was talking about all of this 20 years ago! At the core of the Prince’s statements on agriculture and the environment, with his emphasis on the practice of organic farming (of which he is one of the key exponents on his Home Farm in Gloucestershire) is an understanding of the intricate relationship between human kind and the rest of the natural world: the nature of Order, Balance and Harmony; a necessary humility in the face of events that we may well understand less than we suppose; and, perhaps, above all else, the need to ground ideas in practice. And one of his most recent ventures, an initiative to reduce rainforest deforestation, most practically seeks to establish the true economic value for the “services” provided by the rainforests and to develop mechanisms that will ensure that we pay for those services in a way, and at a price, that not only conserves the forests but also improves the long term livelihoods of the local people. A Crisis or Perception So far, we have noted the presence of, and an emphasis upon, a coherent and timeless principle of Order, Balance and Harmony and an insistence on not just debate but also action. Now we come to another and, for the moment, final matter. Recently, His Royal Highness has, yet again, made a particular and, I believe, most important contribution. Let me set the scene. You will know that you can hardly read a newspaper or listen to the news without there being something on the matter of Climate Change – global warming, icemelt, climatic disruption, rising sea levels, flood and consequent famine. It is now evident that there is little disagreement amongst the scientific community that, for whatever reason, global warming and climatic disruption are taking place. It is also agreed that much damage has already been done and that, whatever we do now, some part of the inheritance -8-
that we shall pass on to our children and grand-children will include this shameful legacy of our own ignorance and profligacy. In his film, Al Gore sets out the data and its likely, or at least possible, consequences, and begins to point towards necessary action. But he does not really tackle the underlying cause of what we might call “the problem”. His Royal Highness is also much concerned with action but, most especially, he does offer an analysis of cause. And this is important since, in my estimation, we shall not be able to solve “the problem” unless we know from whence it has come. In a speech, given in America in January of last year3 His Royal Highness said this: …[if the facts of the environmental crisis are now clear] … it is surely the duty of each and every one of us to find out what we can do to make the situation better. However, if we are to do this, I think we need first to stop and ask how we could have allowed ourselves to reach this point in the first place? … With all our knowledge, our resources and our capacity for sophisticated analysis of any and every problem known to man, how on earth did we get here? If we could answer that question, we could be more confident about our ability to look for and implement solutions before it really is too late. And, by way of answer, he then went on to say this: The crux of the problem, I believe, is that we have come to see ourselves as being outside of Nature and free to manipulate and control her constituent parts, imagining somehow that the whole will not suffer and can take care of itself, and of us, whatever we do. I happen to think that this illusion of separateness conceals from us the degree to which we are still entirely dependent on those natural systems for our basic needs, notwithstanding our technological genius. Surely, [and this is the critical point] if we are to find our way through to a wiser, more balanced future, we must learn to see the world differently – and our role in it? To me, this is a “crisis of perception” which we have to face up to. If we don’t, we will inevitably end up making all the same mistakes, all over again. And what is this “crisis of perception”? Again, it is best to allow the Prince to speak for himself. For in this same lecture he went on to say this: 3
On receipt of the Global Citizen Award of the Harvard Medical School, January, 2007.
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I want to suggest that before we even start thinking about the positive and practical steps needed to reverse environmental degradation and limit climate change, we really do need to look hard at ourselves. [For we] need to recognize that to a large extent we have lost our capacity to see beyond our individual, and in many cases urbanized, lifestyles, [lifestyles which mean]… that many people now have little or no physical contact with the Earth. They may see excellent programmes about Nature on their television screens, but they have little – if any – direct experience of their own. [For them, therefore] Nature has become a simplified and sanitized, arm’slength experience, to be switched on or off at will. It is no longer the “Mother Nature” that animated the entire world for generations of our forebears. As a result, so many have lost what I would call a “sense of harmony”. Now, whether or not you come to the same conclusion (and I have to say that I do), I hope that you will agree that this is an analysis and a conclusion that shows not only a deep concern for others and an insistence on action but also, most importantly, meaning, coherence and insight. * I hope, then, that I have given you some sense of where His Royal Highness is “coming from” and, perhaps, presented to you someone who has not only led the way but has used his special position in life and his concern for others to insist that we face up to problems before it is too late, even if, in so doing, he is ridiculed and derided. As you will understand, it would not be right for me to speak about those matters that, shall we say, are discussed in private. But I can say that those of us that, in our different ways, work with His Royal Highness have a great admiration and affection for a man whose life is set about by duty; a man who, often with little or no appreciation, works tirelessly for others, who is steadfast in his views, who is generous and, most importantly, very funny. I should also say that he is the best of companions. More importantly, I believe that history will judge him to have been a leader – tireless in identifying the critical issues of our time, able to see through the sometimes privileged complacency of convention, prepared to point out that the Emperor has no clothes on and prepared to accept the thankless derision and ridicule that this so often brings. One of the favourite organisations of His Royal Highness, and one of which he is Patron and Professor Bushrui a Fellow, is the Temenos Academy, and - 10 -
I would like to end by reading to you a short piece from an essay that first appeared in The Temenos Academy Review and now appears in Speeches and Articles. It comes from an essay entitled “The Civilised Society”. Referring to his concern at mankind’s increasing wish to manipulate rather than work with Nature, His Royal Highness said this: For some years, it is this deeper concern going beyond the only rational intellect, and this heartfelt desire for harmony and balance, that has driven my interest in Architecture, the Environment, Agriculture, Medicine and Education. … In each of these areas, I have seen the same evidence of an attempt to impose an arrogant technology that seeks not to work with but to subdue Nature – what I think is best described as the Industrialisation of Life. And, as part of this, there is growing a common and disheartening inability to understand both the continuing centrality of that which is sacred and the timeless importance of the traditional forms of understanding of our place in the world.4 Unlike almost any other commentator, in speaking from his heart in this way, His Royal Highness has, of course, nothing to gain but the well-being of others. Therefore, whether or not we agree with everything that he has to say, his evident leadership and foresight surely mean that his thoughts and work are worthy of study in any programme of “Leadership in a Global Age”. * You have all been wonderfully courteous and patient with me and if you have been asleep you have been kind enough to have done so quietly – no doubt this is in the almost timeless tradition, if I might call it that, of this splendid university. I do not know whether I will have pleased my brother Suheil but I do hope that, in your kindness of inviting me to speak, and in your kindness in at least appearing to listen to me, you will now have a better understanding of, and perhaps a greater interest in, the thoughts of work of His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales.
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His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, “The Civilised Society”, The Temenos Academy Review, Spring 2000, 5.
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A Biographical Note PROFESSOR DAVID CADMAN was the Chairman of The Prince of Wales’s Foundation (1999-2001). He represents His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales on the Executive Committee of The Friends of Mount Athos and is a Trustee of The Temenos Academy, of which His Royal Highness is the Patron. He has had a number of Professorial Chairs and for many years was a Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge. He is presently a Visiting Professor at The Bartlett School of Planning, University College London and of The Faculty of the Built Environment, at The University of the West of England. He has written and lectured extensively on the subject of land economy and, more recently, has published work that draws upon the teachings of the great spiritual traditions, especially those of Buddhism and his birthright Quakerism. He is the author of the mythic tale, The King Who Lost His Memory and, bringing together The Prince’s Foundation and The Temenos Academy, he contributed to and was the joint editor of a collection of essays, A Sacred Trust: Ecology and Spiritual Vision which was published in 2002 with a Preface from His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. Professor Cadman founded and was, until recently, the Chairman of Upstream, a strategic consultancy concerned with corporate social responsibility, socially responsible investment and environmental management. In November of last year he sold this consultancy to Jones Land LaSalle, the worlds leading real estate services firm based in Chicago. In 2006, Professor Cadman and Professor Suheil Bushrui of the University of Maryland co-edited and published Selected Speeches and Articles by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales. That same year, Professor Cadman and Professor Bushrui announced the inauguration of a new series of essays under the title, Essays on the Alliance of Civilizations, in support of the United Nations initiative, the “Alliance of Civilizations.” The first essay in the series is a paper by His Royal Highness The Prince of Wales, entitled “Religion—The Ties that Bind,” which was published with his gracious permission. Both Professor Cadman and Professor Bushrui are currently preparing to publish the second paper in the “Alliance of Civilizations” essay series.
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