ABSTRACT
This session introduces global leadership in the context of a volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous (VUCA) world, which is part of a larger phenomenological study (Brodie, in progress). Today’s leaders are facing an inexorable identity crisis. The wave of world-wide hyper-connectivity is accelerating (Brodie, 2017), as technology blurs the lines between our physical and virtual worlds (Bolden & O’Regan, 2016). Right now, global leaders and their organizations are compelled to either change to meet this rapidly iterating environment or be eliminated by it. Knowing the world is increasingly more accessible, the seemingly intractable global issues such as poverty, hunger, and education (“Sustainable Development Goals,” n.d.)becomes intensified global leadership challenges driven by the one immutable truth of leadership: “people matter” (Bolden & O’Regan, 2016). According to IBM (2010), most leaders feel ill-prepared to survive in this swiftly-iterating, complex landscape. If our global VUCA environment is the impetus for new, contextually relevant, global leadership strategies (Johansen, 2012, 2017; Johansen & Euchner, 2013; Khanna, 2014)- further examination is essential. This research study in progress introduces leadership efficacy in this intricate, dynamic, and global macrocosm, this session aims to explore the leadership strategies necessary to lead successfully in a globalized VUCA world.
