Leadership Revisited 

What are some of the most valuable characteristics leaders(hip) must have to take on 21st century challenges?

These are the characteristics listed by Joseph Jaworski in the article Leadership-Six Essentials:
 1  Clarity of purpose.
2  Commitment
3  Listening
4  Yielding
5  Acting in a field of others
6  Opening doors


Listening to the people who want to work on sustainability and understanding the world around them is where the leadership needs to start.  It is realizing one person does not have "THE" answer.
What we can derive from all of the frameworks that we have been looking at is that none of them is "Just right".  Most of the frameworks need to include some aspects of a different framework to achieve what will be optimum. 
In order to get started and  make a viable plan  for change you must start out with clarity of purpose.
You cannot lead others or set a direction or goal if you do not know what you are aiming for. 
What is the goal of your team or project.  Which of the framework, most clearly,  meets your needs.
The leader most not work in isolation but draw in the people that have the expertise to get the job done.

Margaret
Wheatley
 with 
Debbie
Frieze

.
 Gave us the example of going from hero to host  embodying the idea of not being the hero and going it alone.  Instead of being the hero with all of the answers ,become the host that welcomes all to the table and encourages and enables everyone to contribute what they do best. Use the experienced people you have to provide the background that others need.



What examples can you identify that have already embodied this type of leadership? Is there a person, project, or movement that is particularly inspiring to you?

I only know this person from the reading we were assigned .  Again I will have to keep reading to get better understanding .  From Guardian Qualities for 21st century leadership.

Baptiste Raymond, climate change initiatives manager, Lafarge

To me, 21st century sustainability leadership is about courage, creativity and faith in people. It is a values-based leadership.
Sustainability opportunities and challenges are so complex, both of global scale and yet deeply rooted in people's cultures and beliefs, that tomorrow's leaders will need four core qualities to achieve success:
• systems thinking to identify paradigms driving change
• mediation skills to facilitate knowledge sharing, ensure stakeholders' ownership and foster innovation
• vision rooted in community service and ethical behaviour
• decisiveness in ever changing environments with blurred boundaries
To me, 21st century leadership is about leading with the heart and to serve rather than rule.

How can these characteristics be accelerated to catalyze sustainable development?

The thing that I see over and over again is systems thinking.  What I would love to see is ethical behavior.  I think the catalyst  that will work is collaboration and the evidence that those who are leaders are actually working towards a change and not just throwing orders which others have to follow.  It is a team approach where there is a director but not a dictator. 
The work I have seen about IDEO seems to be this type of work  though I don't know how sustainable their work is. Found this kink after I posted this bloghttp://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/12/ideos-steve-bishop-on-the-future-of-sustainable-design-thinking/249225/
Again the journey.  Taking what we know and looking for something that's new with better results. The ripple effect is what happens.  People are getting listened to.  Ideas are getting exchanged.  New ideas are emerging.  Old thinking is transformed.  Innovation and progress catalyze each other.  People enjoy where they work and who they are with .  They want to do more because they see results and rewards.