POSITIVE CORNER #24: Humanity Made Possible
The latest figures from the World Health Organization (WHO) send an encouraging signal: Between 2013 and 2023, the global number of blood donations increased by around 20 percent. More than 85 percent of the approximately 120 million donations in 2023 came from voluntary, unpaid donors.
"These data show encouraging progress, particularly in the growing contribution of voluntary unpaid blood donors worldwide [...]"
emphasizes Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General.
Donating blood is a special form of helping others. People give something of themselves for others they don't know and will probably never meet – without expecting anything in return. This demonstrates solidarity in action: the willingness to take responsibility for a greater good.
This development can be interpreted as an indication of a growing sense of social community.
However, inequalities remain. High-income countries represent only 15 percent of the world's population but collect 36 percent of all blood donations. In low-income countries, a lack of funding, infrastructure, regulation, and logistics hinders access to safe blood. Therefore, a willingness to help alone does not guarantee adequate supply. It requires reliable structures that protect, value, and effectively utilize individual commitment.
Institutions and organizations worldwide can learn something important for their own sustainability from this. A lived culture of helpfulness and solidarity doesn't arise through appeals. It grows where people are given the space and affirmed in their existing collegial and interpersonal potential. Leadership is not just about organizing performance, but about creating conditions under which humanity can unfold. This is a central task in the ω dimension of leadership. It doesn't orient leadership solely towards the economic interests of one's own organization or short-term results, but towards its impact on the greater whole. It asks: What contribution do we make to the sustainable coexistence of people? What responsibility do we bear beyond our immediate boundaries?
The example of the growing global willingness to donate blood shows that humanity is not a scarce resource. The leadership challenge lies in making it a sustainable reality.
Comments