The Role of Believing in Societal Power in the Leadership Understanding of ‘Wisdom in Action’

Today, humanity is passing through an era of profound transformation. At a time when individual isolation is deepening, the sense of trust is weakening, established institutions and structures are beginning to dissolve, and uncertainty is increasing, people are seeking not only new solutions but also a renewed sense of meaning. Crises test not only systems, but also people’s trust in one another, their will to act together, and their capacity to envision a shared future.

In such times, what sustains societies is not merely economic resources, technological capabilities, or political power. What truly matters is people’s capacity to come together around a common purpose, bring forth one another’s potential, and build a new future together. Therefore, one of our greatest needs today is to believe in a societal power that transcends individual strength and to develop a new understanding of leadership capable of mobilizing this power.

The Leadership Understanding of ‘Wisdom in Action’ emerges precisely at this point. This understanding derives its strength not from coercion, authority, or fear, but from the goodness inherent in human beings, collective reason, and societal potential. It regards leadership not merely as the authority to govern or make decisions, but as a conscious way of relating to oneself, society, and life. Leadership thus becomes a transformative responsibility—one that does not pursue individual success, but multiplies the common good and makes visible the latent potential within society.

True leadership is the ability to recognize the value within people, to regard differences not as sources of division but as sources of enrichment, and to serve society through a holistic and inclusive approach. Such a leader does not focus on managing people, but on bringing forth the shared value they are capable of creating together.

To believe in societal power is to trust in a society’s capacity to rise again, even in times of crisis. The history of Anatolia is filled with powerful examples of this capacity. Throughout centuries marked by wars, natural disasters, economic crises, and profound social ruptures, this land has repeatedly generated from within itself new cultures of solidarity, a shared will to create, and an energy of renewal. This historical legacy demonstrates that societal resilience is nourished not only by material resources, but also by collective memory, cultural bonds, and the ability to act together.

Accordingly, within the Leadership Understanding of ‘Wisdom in Action’, the role of believing in societal power is to trust in society’s capacity for “Chaotic Resilience” in times of crisis, uncertainty, and chaos, and to make visible the transformative potential inherent in collective reason. This understanding regards chaos not merely as a threat to be overcome, but also as a transformative threshold from which new forms of order, new collaborations, and a higher level of societal consciousness may emerge.

Society is a living organism. Like all living systems, societies change and develop over time; at times they become stagnant, and at other times they accumulate internal tensions. Structures that have lost their function, old ways of thinking, and habits that no longer generate meaningful responses eventually tend toward dissolution. This tendency toward dissolution can be explained through the concept of entropy.

At the societal level, entropy refers to the dissolution of old orders, the disruption of established equilibria, and the increase of uncertainty. The confusion, distrust, and sense of disintegration that arise during periods of crisis may initially appear to be nothing more than collapse. Yet this dissolution is often the natural consequence of structures that have lost their function giving way to new formations.

Syntropy, by contrast, refers to the capacity to generate a higher order, deeper meaning, and stronger cooperation from within dissolution. If a society can generate collective reason, solidarity, and consciousness from the crises it experiences, it can transform chaos into an energy of transformation.

This is precisely the capacity defined as “Chaotic Resilience.” Chaotic Resilience is the ability of a societal system to establish a syntropic order without surrendering to entropy. In other words, it is the power to generate a new wholeness from disintegration, a new direction from uncertainty, and a higher level of societal consciousness from crisis.

Countries such as Türkiye, whose histories are marked by economic crises, social transformations, and geopolitical uncertainties, may in fact be regarded as living laboratories of Chaotic Resilience. Rather than fragmenting and disappearing, they possess the capacity to reorganize themselves and emerge stronger from such conditions. This is not merely a sociological phenomenon, but also an existential reality.

The Leadership Understanding of ‘Wisdom in Action’ regards society not as a mechanical structure, but as a living and transforming system. At the foundation of this understanding lies the recognition of societal consciousness. A leader who does not know their society cannot develop a realistic vision. It is necessary to perceive the fears, expectations, cultural memory, and yet-unrealized potential of the people.

The key to recognizing societal consciousness lies in bringing forth the potentials that already exist within the people but have not yet reached the level of awareness, and in hearing their silent cry. True leadership is the art of meeting in a shared space and sensing what remains unseen. Creating this shared space means enabling different paths, voices, and experiences to come together not by generating opposition, but by attuning to one another. It is the emergence of a mode of functioning that includes individuals while simultaneously reaching beyond individualism.

One of the most powerful historical examples of this understanding is Mustafa Kemal Atatürk. When Atatürk arrived in Samsun in 1919, he stated that he possessed no material force and relied solely upon “a great and spiritual force born of the nobility of the great Turkish nation and filling his conscience.” His trust in the nation was not a form of romantic optimism; it arose from his ability to read societal reality in depth. This trust rested upon two profoundly realistic foundations.

1. Historical Consciousness (Rooted Trust):Atatürk regarded the Turkish nation’s historical experience of state-building as a source of strength. For him, history was a strategic source of morale. At the same time, he held a profound belief in the Turkish nation’s character of independence.
2. Trust in Moral Resilience:When he looked upon the exhausted and impoverished Anatolia of 1919, he did not see a helpless mass, but a people endowed with moral strength and a powerful capacity to resist.

Atatürk addressed not merely the visible condition of the people, but the potential within them, awakening the essence of society. The Republic emerged from precisely this synthesis of historical roots and the people’s power of resistance—a rebirth and an embodiment of profound trust in societal power.

In this context, Atatürk as an example of Wisdom in Action may be understood through three stages. He listened to the voice of the people, read their history, and recognized their potential, thereby coming to know societal consciousness. He believed not in the visible exhaustion, but in the hidden power beneath it. This belief was unconditional: he believed in societal consciousness. He regarded the people not as an instrument of liberation, but as the true owners of the future. He trusted societal consciousness.

Through this example, the Leadership Understanding of ‘Wisdom in Action’ can be summarized in three fundamental stages: first, to recognize societal consciousness; then, to believe in society’s unseen potential; and finally, to trust society by recognizing it as the true agent of its own future. For trust is belief made manifest in social life and transformed into action.

Within the Leadership Understanding of ‘Wisdom in Action’, the balance between “being” and “doing” is essential. “Being” represents inner wholeness, self-awareness, and moral integrity, while “doing” signifies thinking together, collective reason, and collective creation. Action devoid of inner wholeness cannot rise beyond mere management; inner maturity that does not become action, on the other hand, cannot generate a societal response. Wisdom in Action understands these two dimensions as a single, mutually complementary process.

The challenges of our time have become too complex to be solved by a singular mind. Complex systems can be navigated only by communities capable of thinking, learning, and creating together. A model of “shared leadership,” developed by coming together around shared meaning, assuming mutual responsibility, and taking ownership of the process as much as the outcome, elevates societal consciousness.

This understanding is an act of bringing forth a form of trust that affirms the authentic human being and the infinite potential of human existence.

For this reason, the leadership of the new era must be a form of leadership that opens space rather than commands, inspires rather than compels, and unites rather than divides. Leaders who embody the Leadership Understanding of ‘Wisdom in Action’ move forward through the unity of reason and heart and through self-awareness; through their inclusiveness, they embody an understanding that opens entirely new doors for the development of society and humanity.

Today, humanity stands at a new threshold. The uncertainty and chaos experienced on a global scale may, in fact, be the birth pangs of humanity’s transition toward a higher level of consciousness. In such times, what we need are not centers of power that generate fear, but wise leaders who can trust in the goodness inherent in human beings and in the potential of society.

Truth is a potential that continually abides within humanity’s collective conscience and collective reason. What will bring it down to earth are the unwavering actions of those who believe in collective reason and societal power. For true transformation begins when human beings learn to believe in one another again.

And perhaps this is precisely the ancient mission of Anatolia: to bring forth wisdom from chaos, a consciousness of unity from division, and a new understanding of humanity from within humanity itself…

Ayşe Füsun Hacıömeroğlu, 2026

References

• Arıkdal, E. (2013). Büyük değişimin eşiğinde Anadolu misyonu. Enstitü Yayınları.
• Ataç, N. (1962). Atatürk için diyorlar ki. Varlık Yayınları.
• Atatürk, M. K. (1927). Nutuk. Türk Devrim Tarihi Enstitüsü Yayınları.
• Atatürk, M. K. (1930). Türk Tarih Kurumu’nun kuruluş konuşması[Speech transcript].
• Arsan (Unan), N. (1959). Atatürk’ün söylev ve demeçleri II (1906–1938)(2nd ed.). Türk İnkılâp Tarihi Enstitüsü Yayınları.
• İnsanlık Güneşi Vakfı. (2023). Arınmış varlık iNSAN. İnsanlık Üniversitesi Yayınları.
• Eroğlu, H. (1994). Atatürk: Hayatı ve üstün kişiliği. T.C. Kültür Bakanlığı Yayınları.
• Güven, M. S. (2023). Güvenle yolculuk. İnsanlık Üniversitesi Yayınları.
• İnan, A. (1959). Atatürk hakkında hatıralar ve belgeler. Türk Tarih Kurumu Basımevi.
• İnsanlık Güneşi Vakfı. (2024). Atatürk’ün manevi mirasını idrak etmek. İnsanlık Üniversitesi Yayınları-05.
• İnsanlık Güneşi Vakfı. (n.d.). Aksiyoner Bilgeliğin Liderlik Anlayışı Bildirgesi.
• Howe, N. (2023). The fourth turning is here: What the seasons of history tell us about how and when this crisis will end. Simon & Schuster.
• Kocatürk, U. (1999). Atatürk’ün fikir ve düşünceleri. Atatürk Kültür, Dil ve Tarih Yüksek Kurumu, Atatürk Araştırma Merkezi Yayınları.
• Kongar, E. (1989). Atatürk ve devrimleri. Remzi Kitabevi.
• Turan, Ş. (1989). Atatürk’ün düşünce dünyası. Bilgi Yayınevi.
• Walker, B., Holling, C. S., Carpenter, S. R., & Kinzig, A. (2004). Resilience, adaptability and transformability in social–ecological systems. Ecology and Society, 9(2), 5.