Tragedy must be prevented.

The role of leaders is (among other things) to foresee and prevent tragedies. Once a tragedy has occurred, there is no undoing its consequences, even if help is made available.

This is why leadership matters so very, very much. Many leaders internalize this message and become fearfully conservative, operating in a defensive posture.

But the best way to prevent tragedy is to built a positive alternative to it—a project of collective flourishing. That is why vision matters so much in leadership.

And this is why eventually, a lack of vision leads to tragedy.

The world is facing a crisis of leadership that manifests as a lack of vision.

Quite simply, few are out there proposing shared projects that preclude tragedy by building collective prosperity. This lack of vision creates room for the “entrepreneurs of limited horizons”—i.e. bullies—to flourish.

They see the world as a zero-sum game rather than a positive-sum game. And they will use force to take more than others.

It’s time to change the narrative.

It’s time to invite the people and governments of the world into the project of building the new engines of liberty and prosperity for all.