How can business leaders navigate through a world of polycrisis? This work blends historical lessons, firsthand accounts, and ethical perspectives on crisis to fill a key gap in our understanding of effective, ethical leadership through settings of crisis, conflict and/or fragility. Pulling from historical events and contemporary research, this Element looks past individual crises and explores a world of overlapping, permanent crises, or “polycrisis.” It contrasts traditional leadership responses with values of community and authenticity, emphasizing the necessity of ethical and servant leadership when conventional business strategies fail. This work offers insights for anyone interested in understanding and navigating the complex landscape of crisis and strategizes enduring leadership for constant crises.
Key Messages
Evidence from leaders shows how ethical leadership in polycrisis can make communities more peaceful, sustainable, and profitable at once.
Ethical leadership under polycrisis is compatible with, rather than opposed to, building peaceful and sustainable communities.
Profitability, peace, and sustainability can be pursued together by leaders exercising ethical judgment amid overlapping crises.
Jason Miklian, John E. Katsos. “Ethical Leadership in Polycrisis: Evidence from Leaders on How to Make More Peaceful, Sustainable, and Profitable Communities.” SSRN Working Paper, 2024.
@article{miklian2024_ethical_leadership_in_polycris,
title = {Ethical Leadership in Polycrisis: Evidence from Leaders on How to Make More Peaceful, Sustainable, and Profitable Communities},
author = {Miklian, Jason and Katsos, John E.},
journal = {SSRN Working Paper},
year = {2024},
doi = {10.2139/ssrn.4855022},
url = {https://miklian.org/papers/ethical-leadership-in-polycrisis-evidence-from-leaders-on-how-to-make-more/}
}