8 Mental models for wisdom leadership in a VUCA world

Wise leaders build agile, inclusive and sustainable businesses. But how can you do that in times of crisis? Here are 8 mental models for building inner resilience to take responsible and sustainable actions in VUCA (volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous) situations.

When it comes to situations like the Covid-19 pandemic, the climate emergency, and other societal challenges at a global scale, we don’t need leaders, who only rely on their survival instincts or find opportunistic ways to leverage a crisis.

We need leaders, who consciously use their intuition, logic, and their emotions to choose appropriate emergency responses. We need wise leaders.

Why? Because wise CEOs create the best results in both the short and long term for the benefit of both society and the bottom line.

That’s the conclusion of a survey of 100 CEO emergency responses over the past 30 years, conducted by Navi Radjou and Prasad Kaipa, who are also co-authors of “From Smart to Wise: Acting and Leading With Wisdom”.

8 MENTAL MODELS FOR WISDOM LEADERSHIP

In their article, Leading with your heart and mind, Radjou and Kaipa show how wise CEOs like Unilever’s Paul Polman and companies like Siemens and Danone are transforming their businesses into wise enterprises.

But what can a wise leader concretely do on a personal level to build inner resilience for taking responsible and sustainable actions in challenging times?

We’ve reached out to leadership transformation expert, Sandja Brügmann, The Passion Institute to co-create an infographic based on her 8 mental models for wisdom leadership.

“For a while now, in CEO circles, we’ve talked about the world being VUCA (Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous), and Covid-19 is showing us how interconnected and interdependent we all are. So we need leaders to navigate these uncertainties wisely if we want a safer and more thriving world for us all“, explains Sandja Brügmann, who helps organizations embed sustainability, wisdom and purpose into the core of their business strategy and leadership skills.

We hope that this infographic will not only inform and inspire CEOs, but also serve as a reminder for all of us on how to take personal leadership and deal with the more “daily VUCA” situations.

So save it, pin it on the wall, or share it with others who may benefit.

You can download a full-size edition of the infographic here.

WANT MORE INSPIRATION?

The infographic is part of our , where we share tips and cases to show how businesses can contribute positively here and now – but also to build back better post-corona.

Find more cases & learn more at www.taniaellis.com/corporate-corona-action-series

TANIA ELLIS – The Social Business Company, is a B Corp-certified speaking, training, and consulting company specialized in linking business, sustainability, and innovation. For almost two decades, we’ve inspired and helped companies create value for society & the bottom line.