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Development and Learning in Organizations: An International Journal
We live in a VUCA World: the importance of responsible leadership
Anita Sarkar
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To cite this document:
Anita Sarkar , (2016),"We live in a VUCA World: the importance of responsible leadership", Development and Learning in
Organizations: An International Journal, Vol. 30 Iss 3 pp. 9 - 12
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http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/DLO-07-2015-0062
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Conceptual papers
We live in a VUCA World: the importance
of responsible leadership
Anita Sarkar
Anita Sarkar is based at
Faculty of Human
Resources Management,
XLRI Jamshedpur,
Jamshedpur, India.
The ways in which we conduct or think about our businesses have substantially
changed within a decade. The term VUCA – which stands for volatility,
uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity – is a common phrase these days in the
corporate world and was coined from the US Army. Rapid changes taking place in
political, economic, social and technological fronts are making the organizational world
increasingly VUCA.
Critical factors for success in this world depend on practicing:
sound business fundamentals;
innovation;
fast-paced response;
flexibility;
change management;
managing diversity – at both local and global level;
market intelligence; and
strong collaboration with all relevant stakeholders – employees, customers, suppliers,
shareholders and the broader society.
Leaders, from CEOs to any other internal manager, therefore have a major role to play in
ensuring their organizations are responding to the requirements of the VUCA business
environment.
What kind of leader is needed to succeed in a VUCA world?
Normative leadership theories have focused on transactional leadership, transformational
leadership, servant leadership and authentic leadership (Johnson, 2012). Recent literature
on leadership, however, has started a discussion on what is termed responsible leadership.
First, a brief overview of each form of leadership:
Transactional leadership
The focus of transactional leadership is on how leaders can align subordinates to
organizational goal attainment, by using either punishment or rewards (Yukl, 2006). This
approach is similar to the “carrot and stick policy”. The assumption underlying this style is
that leaders can control and shape subordinate behavior.
DOI 10.1108/DLO-07-2015-0062 VOL. 30 NO. 3 2016, pp. 9-12, © Emerald Group Publishing Limited, ISSN 1477-7282 DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING IN ORGANIZATIONS PAGE 9
Downloaded by XLRI Jamshedpur School of Business & Human Resources At 11:01 22 May 2016 (PT)
Transformational leadership
Success in transformational leadership depends on both leaders and followers elevating
each other to a higher level of understanding. For followers, a transformational leader
remains an inspiration (Bass, 1985). In this way, transformational leadership is primarily
leader centric; leaders bring forth change in the corporation with a level of charismatic aura
surrounding them.
Servant leadership
The centre of interest in servant leadership is the follower. The leader shares information
and resources to support the followers. If the followers are empowered, leadership will be
regarded as successful.
Authentic leadership
Authentic leadership is based on value driven, ethical fundamentals. Four key
characteristics of authentic leaders (Avolio and Gardner, 2005) with their key
interpretations are shown in Table I.
Responsible leadership
Responsible leadership contains the essential qualities of the three latter leadership styles
above – transformational, servant and authentic. The main focus of responsible leadership
is a leader’s exchange with followers, team, organization and society at large (Doh and
Quigley, 2014). Thus, responsible leadership goes beyond the traditional forms of
superior–subordinate exchanges. Leadership in this case gets deeply connected to the
corporate social responsibility of an organization.
With the transformational aspect, responsible leaders encourage teamwork, set high
performance targets and encourage out-of-the-box thinking in their followers.
Responsible leaders with their servant leadership approach put the interests of
subordinates first, over and above their own self interests. This creates an empowering
experience for the followers. Research shows that empowerment leads to creativity at work,
which is one of the important criteria for success and sustainability in today’s VUCA world.
The authenticity of responsible leaders not only helps to prevent fraud in an organization
but also ensures learning agility, flexibility and the participation of others, as the leader
listens and integrates diverse perspectives when making decisions. From the large
numbers of frauds and scandals that dragged names like Jeff Skilling of global power
company Enron in 2001, Ramalinga Raju of Satyam Computer in 2009 and so on, one of the
important lessons learnt was that leaders’ ethical integrity is of paramount importance in
maintaining their corporation’s long-term success.
Table I Authentic leadership dimensions and interpretations
Dimensions Interpretations
Self-awareness Leaders are well aware about their strengths and
weaknesses
Balanced processing Before taking a decision can objectively process
others’ perspective even if it challenges the leader’s
own convictions
Internalized moral perspective Takes decision based on high internal moral and
ethical standards
Genuineness while dealing with others Cultivates a culture of openness by sincerely sharing
opinions, information and feelings while dealing with
others
PAGE 10 DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING IN ORGANIZATIONS VOL. 30 NO. 3 2016
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Employees, customers, suppliers and other stakeholders now find it easy to share their
views, which in turn can help leaders locate new market opportunities and possibilities of
mutually beneficial collaboration.
The all-inclusive leadership approach of responsible leadership is bound to make change
management seamless (Coldwell et al., 2012) – which is a hallmark of success for any
effective leadership.
In India, the Swiss Ambassador Award for Responsible Leadership was given to Yash
Chopra from the entertainment industry, Ratan Tata of Tata Sons, Glenn Saldanha of
Glenmark Generics Ltd., RV Kanoria of Kanoria Chemicals & Industries Ltd. and Azim
Premji of Wipro Ltd. All these leaders share the following common characteristics:
sound business knowledge;
humility;
ethical practices;
strong networking ability; and
belief in the power of giving.
Each of these qualities is aligned to the critical success factors of surviving in a VUCA world.
Are responsible leaders born or made?
Responsible leadership is a combination of both innate and acquired traits of an individual.
For instance, the ethical or moral standards of an individual get shaped, to a large extent,
at an early age through parents, teachers and significant others.
It has also been observed that personal crises, such as a major life changing event, a
disability, have a significant impact on a leader: from the ashes of such an experience, a
changed leader emerges like a phoenix and is reborn. In Indian history, Emperor Ashoka,
a great leader of the time, came to a deeper sense of self-realization in the aftermath of his
victory in the battle of Kalinga. As a result, he created a culture based on the Buddhist
principle of respect for all.
An individual’s own self-reflection combined with an organization’s vision, mission and
practices also plays a major role in shaping the responsible leader who is self-aware, can
subdue his/her self-interest for a greater cause and is committed to serving the broader
interests of relevant stakeholders.
Responsible leadership embraces societal issues and concerns based on sound ethical
judgment, which ensures the long-term sustainability of any organization in the VUCA world.
Conclusion
Research on responsible leadership is still at a nascent stage. However, given its
all-compassing approach toward ethicality, valuing others and inclusivity, it is certain that
this type of leadership is the “need of the hour” for effectively addressing the requirements
of a VUCA world. The foundation of responsible leadership is based on the following
treatise: “Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you”.
The main focus of responsible leadership is a leader’s
exchange with followers, team, organization and society at
large.
Keywords:
Leadership development,
Management development,
Engagement and learning,
VUCA world
VOL. 30 NO. 3 2016 DEVELOPMENT AND LEARNING IN ORGANIZATIONS PAGE 11
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References
Avolio, B.J. and Gardner, W.L. (2005), “Authentic leadership development: getting to the root of
positive forms of leadership”, The Leadership Quarterly, Vol. 16 No. 3, pp. 315-338.
Bass, B.M. (1985), Leadership and Performance Beyond Expectations, Free Press, New York, NY.
Coldwell, D.A.L., Joosub, T. and Papageorgiou, E. (2012), “Responsible leadership in organizational
crises: an analysis of the effects of public perceptions of selected SA business organizations’
reputations”, Journal of Business Ethics, Vol. 109 No. 2, pp. 133-144.
Doh, J.P. and Quigley, N.R. (2014), “Responsible leadership and stakeholder management: influence
pathways and organizational outcomes”, Academy of Management Perspectives, Vol. 28 No. 3,
pp. 255-274.
Johnson, C.E. (2012), Meeting the Ethical Challenges of Leadership: Casting Light or Shadow, Sage
Publications, London.
Yukl, G. (2006), Leadership in Organizations, 6th ed., Prentice Hall, NJ.
Corresponding author
Anita Sarkar can be contacted at: anitasarkar@xlri.ac.in
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