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Re-Contextualizing Leadership Theories Through a Quantum Perspective on Dao/Yijing
Abstract
This investigation explores the application of Dao and Yijing , pillars of Chinese philosophy, to developing a nuanced leadership theory. The paper suggests that quantum systems' holistic and interconnected nature offers valuable leadership lessons in complex modern contexts. It promotes agile and deeply aware leadership, capable of navigating contemporary organizational landscapes' uncertain and multifaceted nature. Leaders are encouraged to respond to uncertainty with informed decisions based on a profound internal awareness. Building on this, the paper advances a quantum-inspired leadership model anchored in adaptability and conscious decision-making principles. It interweaves the wisdom of Dao/Yijing and the insights of quantum mechanics, promoting a leadership style responsive to the inherently probabilistic fabric of reality. The proposed paradigm emphasizes the importance of perceptive observation and a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between organizational dynamics and broader environmental contexts.
... The final blow came with Einstein's (1905) theory of special relativity, which abolished the need for an ether by asserting that the speed of light is invariant in all inertial reality. The Dao in Chinese philosophy is not merely a metaphysical principle but a generative force from which all phenomena emerge (Chai, 2014;Leong, 2024). In this light, the paper draws parallels between the Higgs field's role in symmetry breaking and mass generation and Dao's ideas of differentiation arising from the undivided void, particularly through the dynamics of qi and the interplay of yin (陰) and yang (陽). ...
This paper explores the conceptual parallels between the Higgs field and the classical notion of the luminiferous ether, situating the discussion within modern physics and ancient Dao metaphysics. While the ether was once theorized as a universal medium for the propagation of light and later discarded following the Michelson-Morley experiment and Einstein's special relativity, the Higgs field has emerged in contemporary physics as a space-filling quantum field responsible for mass generation through spontaneous electroweak symmetry breaking. Drawing on references from scientific literature and popular discourse, this paper examines how the Higgs field has been metaphorically described as a "new ether"-an omnipresent field underpinning material reality. To deepen this analysis, the paper adopts a Dao's interpretive lens, viewing the Higgs field not only as a scientific construct but as a modern echo of the ancient concept of Dao (道)-the ineffable, generative principle that gives rise to the ten thousand things (wanwu, 萬物). Parallels are drawn between Dao's notions of qi (氣) and xu (虛) (the fertile void) and the dynamic structure of the Higgs field, particularly in its invisible yet formative role within the Standard Model. The spontaneous breaking of symmetry is discussed in light of Dao's notions of differentiation emerging from an undivided whole, where duality (yin-yang) arises from the Dao as a spontaneous, self-organizing process. By integrating scientific and philosophical paradigms, this paper offers a metaphysical reading of the Higgs mechanism as a bridge between ancient and modern cosmologies. It argues that the persistence of ether analogies reflects a perennial human impulse to conceptualize an underlying unity or substrate of reality. In doing so, the study contributes to an expanded ontology of space that recognizes both the mathematical formalism of quantum fields and the metaphysical intuitions of classical Eastern thought.
... In contrast, the Eastern tradition offers a complementary perspective, emphasizing that not all aspects of reality can be captured through language or formalism (Barkema et al., 2015). Instead, direct awareness, intuitive understanding, and alignment with natural flows (Dao) remain essential for a holistic grasp of existence (Leong, 2024a). ...
This study examines the convergence of Heim's Unified Field Theory (UFT) with Buddhist and Dao metaphysical frameworks, proposing a multidimensional paradigm in which information, rather than matter, forms the basis of reality. While Western scientific traditions have largely relied on reductionist and mechanistic approaches to reality, Eastern philosophies, particularly Dao and Buddhism, have long emphasized an interconnected, dynamic continuum of existence. Heim's model of higher-dimensional structures (X5-X12) offers a compelling bridge between these perspectives, suggesting that reality is governed by an underlying informational field that mediates the emergence of structured form and conscious experience. Heim's higher-dimensional framework aligns with Buddhist and Dao, reflecting their foundational concepts of interdependence and non-duality. Heim's notion that distinctions collapse at the highest dimension parallels Buddhist dependent origination (緣起, pratītyasamutpāda) and emptiness (空, śūnyatā), which assert that all phenomena lack intrinsic existence and arise contingently. Similarly, Dao's wuji (無極, Ultimate Void) corresponds to Heim's X12, the undifferentiated informational substrate from which structured reality emerges. Heim's X5 and X6 function as energetic regulators that mediate the transformation of undifferentiated potential into structured materialization, paralleling the Dao's concept of taiji (太極, Supreme Polarity) arising from wuji (無極, Ultimate Void) as the foundational process of cosmic differentiation. This synthesis suggests that Heim's model provides a scientific articulation of ancient Eastern cosmologies, where reality is shaped by the dynamic interplay of information, energy, and form. This synthesis has implications for quantum cognition, bioenergetics, and contemplative sciences. By exploring ālaya-vijñāna (阿賴耶識, "storehouse consciousness") as a vibrational repository encoding karmic imprints, the study proposes new frameworks for cognitive transformation and energy-based interventions. Heim's theory further aligns with Buddhist perspectives on consciousness as a structured informational field, suggesting that higher dimensions regulate fluctuations in the lower realms of perception and material reality. This study's findings contribute theoretically and practically by expanding the interdisciplinary dialogue between Eastern contemplative traditions and modern physics. By integrating qi (氣) dynamics with Heim's control dimensions and reinterpreting Buddhist Dharmadhātu (法界, Dharma Realm of Non-Duality) as an ultimate informational continuum, this research informs both scientific and practical applications. By synthesizing these perspectives, this paper extends Heim's framework beyond its original formulation, positioning it as a bridge between Western theoretical physics and Eastern metaphysical traditions. The contribution of this study lies in its interdisciplinary approach, which offers a more holistic understanding of multidimensional reality, consciousness, and the mechanisms underlying the emergence of form and perception. This re-interpretation challenges existing reductionist paradigms and paves the way for new research directions that integrate quantum biology, neuroenergetics, bioelectromagnetism, quantum cognition and consciousness studies and higher-dimensional physics into a unified model of existence.
Background : In quantum mechanics, the observer effect categorically states that observing a phenomenon changes it. This research explores a probabilistic interpretation of entrepreneurial opportunity and explains the observer effect reflecting on Schrödinger’s cat thought experiment. This approach addresses opportunity as a “possibility” concept reinterpreting it from multiple observers’ perspectives and the cruciality of action to cause wave function collapse to an emergent reality. This paper intends to resolve the epistemological paradox and ‘opportunity’ war by re-contextualising opportunity as an artefact and positing it as a probability wave with a range of possibilities until alert entrepreneurs act on it.
Method : This conceptual development relies on literature review as a research methodology, using reasoning by analogy for the progress of theory and metaphors for theorisation.
Results : This conceptual narrative strengthens the epistemological foundation focused on possibility and probability (illustrated through wave function) to sharpen the definition of opportunity and action theory. The observer effect in opportunity is underexplored in entrepreneurial scholarship. This study features how the observer effect influences the evolving state of opportunity. Opportunity is affected by other observers and the entrepreneur’s imagination, social construction and effort. Each involved agent relates and interacts to give rise to possibilities in opportunities. The interrelations and interdependence are complex, giving rise to superposition with a mixed state with many possibilities.
Conclusions : The contribution of this research is manifold from a theoretical and practical level. It presents a quantum-like model where an ‘un-acted’ opportunity is in superposition (multiple possibilities emerging simultaneously until it is enacted), expanding on Ramoglou and Tsang’s (2016) view on propensity. The interactional effects – interfering and entangling between agents observing the same opportunity generate possibilities. The potentiality and the many-possibilities states in the opportunity artefact hold great promise in entrepreneurial research.
This study uses qualitative research methods of text mining to elucidate the potential and prospects for community-based learning opportunities for raising environmental awareness and bringing about healthy behaviour change among university students and local residents. In particular, we focus on the importance of community-based learning in raising environmental awareness and inspiring action to support healthy living and harmony with nature. The three groups were triangulated using semi-structured questionnaires to model the ways in which education for sustainable development (ESD) can contribute to the promotion of environmental education in local communities. In order to collect in-depth data, the authors themselves were present at the study sites and collected textual data based on semi-structured questionnaires in a participatory observation framework, where they had a common experience to understand the observations. Analysis was carried out using NVivo12. The two community learning initiatives studied were in Okayama and Tokyo, which are leading ESD policy areas. The two case studies are both university student-led projects that aim to raise environmental awareness in local communities through environmentally conscious behaviour change and the creation of a foundation for healthy living. This study focuses on “youth” and “community” among the five priority areas proposed in the 2015 ESD report and discusses the potential and prospects for community learning initiatives and the triggering of the nudge effect on environmentally conscious behaviour change and health behaviours. The results of the textual analysis with triangulation show that, while policymakers and teachers and leaders driving the initiative acknowledge the importance of ESD in a comprehensive way, their attention is more focused on the design of specific projects and curricula. In contrast, university students engaged in ESD activities rated the social education facilities (local community centres, community learning centres) as “lively” and “motivating”. It was found that there are high expectations for “public living rooms”, which are important as a base for learning to promote healthy and sustainable communities and environmentally conscious behaviour change.
This article focuses on the concept of worldviews, arguing that a change in managerial worldviews is the key lever for addressing the social and global challenges facing humanity. We draw from a new synthesis of science and spirituality, with the addition of “other ways of knowing” that go beyond rational-empirical analysis, to suggest that what we call Quantum Worldviews are capable of generating the prosocial and pro-environmental behavior consistent with humanistic management. Using the yin-yang symbol as a metaphor, we suggest that a transformation in consciousness, at the level of the paradigmatic assumptions held by managers about the nature of reality, can be understood through adult development theory. We also go beyond the metaphor to propose a quantum worldview based on a more literal interpretation of quantum science to fundamentally re-conceptualize what it means to be human, drawing on quantum research that suggests ontological wholeness and interdependence of all. Quantum Worldviews can help leaders, and the various systems of which they are a part, transition to a new science-based consciousness - long intuited by indigenous and nonwestern spiritual leaders - of an interconnected and dynamically coherent world. We identify a variety of practices that give managers a direct experience of Oneness, changing who they are at the deepest level of self-concept. Our research suggests that only when using such practices, and in sufficient numbers, will business leaders become agents of world benefit with the collective influence to bring about meaningful solutions to climate change and other wicked problems—in other words, needed system transformation.
This article is intended to contribute to debate on the arguments that are propounded both in support and in condemnation of new forms of workplace aesthetic. I draw upon experience in organiz-ational intervention and on literature from the arenas of physical and social workplace design to support a multi-contextual debate on the new workplace aesthetic and on interpretations that are placed upon it within different contexts of study. While an essential tension of freedom and control is identified in the literature, I offer no con-clusion in support or in condemnation of any particular viewpoint. Rather, I argue for a multi-perspective analysis of workplace aesthetic in order to surface meaning for different groups of actors within their own context of thinking/acting. From this, general theories for analysis of other situations may be derived rather than particular models or recipes for application.
The essay provides a take, by a historian, on the 2022 Ukraine war. It draws attention to the fact that, over the past 20 years, terms such as “game-changer” or “turning point” have been frequently employed to characterize important junctures. However, 2022 is qualitatively different from all of these, as it represents the antithesis to 1989 and marks the end of an entire era. From the leadership perspective, one immediate effect of a turning point is the reckoning with the past that it entails. It forces a rethink on past behavior. And this collective cognitive rewiring triggers the questioning of the legacy of leaders associated with the now discredited course of action. Taking the example of the crisis of conscience currently underway in Germany, the essay cautions against scapegoating that relies on retrospective selection bias; suggesting instead, that the focus of attention should be shifted to the collective cognitive blinders that prevented the numerous Cassandras, who understood the genuine nature of Putinist aggression, from being listened to. The essay then turns its attention to the proliferation of historical analogies and comparisons, arguing that this tells us less about the event and more about the fact that our compasses have gone haywire. As corollaries of our profound disarray, they even prevent us from gaining a better understanding of the phenomenon. This is addressed in the final part, which includes reflections on Putin as a leader, Putinist followership, as well as the challenges Western leaders are likely to face in the future.
Business organizations, managers, and all of us need to adapt to a rapidly evolving socio-technical environment and to the climate change and other environmental crises we are all facing. Managers, and all of us, need to engage with the opportunities and threats posed by exponential development of technologies of production, distribution, and consumption and with innovative, and sometimes, risky approaches to dealing with climate change and other aspects of global unsustainability. Managers, and all of us, would do well to unlearn self-limiting beliefs and utilize the highest potential of themselves and their teams to generate visionary designs that will guide pro-social and environmental behaviors toward a flourishing world. We call Higher Consciousness Management (HCM) a way of being and operating that enables managers and others to tap into the source of unbounded potential within themselves. In essence, managers could benefit from transcending surface-level reality and developing problem-solving capabilities with adaptability, creativity, empathy, and vision. The V-theory of transcendence models a wide range of contemplation and meditation techniques to transcend surface reality and connect with pure consciousness, which is the unified field of all the laws of nature. This paper presents three key principles for HCM, and some ways of developing those capabilities in organizations. We model HCM using two case studies, and outline a vision of what HCM might portend for the future.
Quantum Management brings to light the power of direct-intuitive practices – such as meditation, nature immersion, and countless others – to transform a leader’s consciousness as the highest point of leverage for entrepreneurial creativity embedding social purpose. Layered on top of such practices are insights from quantum physics and related disciplines that offer a radically different view of organizational life. Such insights help managers understand how direct-intuitive practices work to change a person at the deepest level of their identity. Direct-intuitive practices give managers an experience of wholeness that heightens their awareness of how their actions impact others and the world. Such awareness leads managers to pursue business as a force for good not only because of the analytic business case for it, which remains important, but because of who they are being. Recent developments in science inform their experience by re-framing their understanding of the nature of reality.
This research examines the characteristics of the age demographic of a top management team (TMT) as drivers of a firm's environmental management (EM) strategy comprising compliance-only and beyond-compliance initiatives. Using a matched sample of publicly listed firms in Kinder, Lydenberg, and Domini and Bloomberg, panel data regression techniques on a unique dataset of 3,251 firm-year observations suggest that a link does exist. Driven by a desire for legacy and a preference for risk-averse decisions, aging TMTs will support beyond-compliance initiatives. On the other hand, age diversity is expected to enhance the innovative potential of a TMT for solving pressing compliance-related environmental issues. The study finds that aging TMTs support beyond-compliance as compared to compliance-only EM strategies. TMT age diversity, though helpful in developing compliance-only initiatives, is not instrumental in driving beyond-compliance initiatives. The study highlights the challenges in developing a comprehensive EM strategy suggesting paths for future research.
Daodejing, one of the Chinese Classics, has the second largest translated versions in the world, second to the Bibles. Since the 1st English version translated by John Chalmers in 1868, there are different retranslations in western countries, typically in the US and the UK. Daodejing gets its “rebirth” or “rewriting” in different places through different times. Different time and places constitute different historical, social and cultural context. This paper focuses on the translation and retranslation of Daodejing by James Legge in the nineteenth century, Arthur Waley in the twentieth century and Roger Ames and David Hall in the twenty-first century, which context is respectively featured by Christian background, western culture centralism and the co-existence of multi-cultures. This paper reveals the differences of the interpretation and translation of Daodejing by the above mentioned translators. Some key vocabularies such as “Dao”, “De”, “Tian”, “Wu Wei” etc. are analyzed, meanwhile their different translations are illustrated in terms of vocabulary. In the meantime, the contemporary retranslation of Daodejing by Roger Ames and David Hall will be shed light on. They interpret the traditional Chinese natural cosmology via the focus and field theory. In this philosophical translation of Daodejing, the gerund and “language cluster” are applied in accordance with the Chinese vocabularies in the original text of Daodejing to illustrate a holistic, dynamic Daoist cosmology. As an open text, Daodejing has been rooted in the alien places and has gained its niche in the delineation of translated texts in different periods of time. The after-life of the original text of Daodejing therefore, bridges the dialogue and cooperation between the east and the west based on the pursuit of harmonious development for the mankind via the translated works of the Chinese classics.
The question of the relation between humans and nature lies at the foundation of any philosophy. With the daily worsening environmental crisis, we are forced to face this ancient question again. Yet when we put it into the form of ‘humans and nature’, a metaphysics is already implied and the problem of nature has not yet been questioned. At this moment, the very question that needs to be put forward is, ‘What is nature’? The question of nature will be interrogated through a comparative view in this essay. First, I argue the modern understanding of nature lies at the root of today’s environmental problems. Then, I go back to early Daoism to explore Daoist thinking on ziran (usually translated as ‘nature’). The meaning of ‘dao emulates ziran’ is brought to light through a detailed interpretation of the ziran of dao and things. Ziran penetrates the dao, the heavenly, the earthly and the human. It is with the understanding of ziran that the nature of humans and all things are illuminated. Heidegger’s thinking on nature in connection with Daoism is briefly examined together with some other significant environmental philosophies.
In this paper, the authors are devoted to design a new segmentation approach based on I-Ching operators in the framework of shadowed fuzzy C-means clustering. The I-Ching operators are innovative operators, which are evolved from ancient Chinese I-Ching philosophy. I-Ching operators include three kinds of operators, intrication operator, turnover operator, and mutual operator. These new operators are very flexible and efficient in evolution procedure. In this paper, the new operators are specifically designed to search for the optimal cluster centers of shadowed fuzzy C-means. Considering the local spatial information in image segmentation procedure, a new segmentation algorithm called I-Ching spatial shadowed fuzzy C-means (ICSSFCM) is proposed. Traditional segmentation approaches based on fuzzy C-means, shadowed fuzzy C-means, and spatial shadowed fuzzy C-means are compared with the proposed method. The experimental results show that the proposed ICSSFCM is very efficient approach not only in tackling the overlapping segments but also in suppressing the noise in images.
Scholars and practitioners alike have recognized that younger workers, collectively known as Millennials or GenMe, are different from workers in prior generations. Employees of this generation hold different expectations regarding the centrality of work to their lives and bring different personalities and attitudes to the workforce. As the number of Millennials in the workforce grows each year, the divide between them and their older counterparts become more salient and pose unique challenges for organizational leaders. In this paper, we explore how these changes may force the need for reconsideration of five of the most frequently used leadership theories in an effort to understand important boundary conditions and how leadership research must evolve to keep pace with a changing workforce.
Interest in ethical leadership has been spurred by the widespread reporting of corporate malfea-sance and corruption in the last decade. Although ethical leadership theories have highlighted the importance of ethical considerations in leadership, the dominant discourses of this field tend to treat ethical leadership as individualised, decontextualised and power-neutral. The purpose of this article is to address these limitations of the mainstream literature through a reimagination of ethical leadership research, development and practice grounded in a feminist, communitarian and corporeal ethic. This approach, I propose, has the potential to reorient leadership as a collective ethico-political project exercised towards the goals of equality, justice and emancipation.
This article investigates the concept of time as it is laid forth in the Daoist text, the Zhuangzi eZSa. Arguing that authentic time lies with cosmogony and not reality as envisioned by humanity, the Zhuangzi casts off the ontology of the present-now in favor of the existentially creative negativity of Dao e". As the pivot of Dao, nothingness not only allows us to side-step the issue of temporal directionality, it reflects the meontological nature of Daoist cosmology in general. Framing time in terms of the motion of nothingness, this paper concludes that the authentic time of Dao reveals itself through the principle of creation qua rest. Experiencing such temporal self-grounding, the sage becomes existentially awakened such that temporal ekstases becomes unfathomable.
The considerable attention devoted to individual self-influence processes in organizations has been limited to scope, focusing primarily on self-management that facilitates behaviors that are not naturally motivating and that meet externally anchored standards. In this paper, individual self-control systems are viewed as the central control mechanisms within organizations. An expanded "self-leadership" view is developed that includes (a) self-imposed strategies for managing performance of tasks of low intrinsic motivational potential and (b) self-influence that capitalizes on the "natural"/intrinsic motivational value of task activity. Implications for theory and practice are addressed.
This paper introduces the concept of nothingness as used in classical Daoist philosophy, building upon contemporary scholarship by offering a uniquely phenomenological reading of the term. It will be argued that the Chinese word wu bears upon two planes of reality concurrently: as ontological nothingness and as ontic nonbeing. Presenting wu in this dyadic manner is essential if we wish to avoid equating it with Dao itself, as many have been wont to do; rather, wu is the mystery that perpetually veils Dao while serving as the root and counter-balance to being, and yet, Dao also imbues things with wu to the extant that their physical makeup and usefulness, or lack thereof, can be traced back to their source in Dao. This does not only mean that Daoist cosmogony and metaphysics are inherently informed by nothingness/nonbeing instead of being/beings but that it works to unground all moral and epistemological norms in play, a feat no other school of thought in ancient China could accomplish.
Traditional, mechanistic models of leadership are inadequate for dealing with the serious adaptive challenges facing the modern world. The complex, dynamic systems that result when these adaptive challenges interact requires that we draw upon ecological principles to understand the role that leadership processes can play in creating a sustainable, generative future. Ignoring the systemic nature of leadership processes creates an illusion that traditional positional leaders should be the focus of leadership studies. We propose that a more useful focus is the systemic processes out of which leadership emerges. A theory of leadership derived from principles of ecology calls for a radical shift in our perspectives of leadership. It emphasizes individual responsibility, a long term perspective, developing capacities of individuals within organizations, and harmony with nature, while showing the way toward sustainability for future generations.
Purpose
Unprecedented complexity is reshaping the financial services industry and presenting formidable challenges to financial services leaders and their organizations. “Sensemaking of Complexity: Leadership in Financial Services,” highlights seven leadership principles that could help leaders and their organizations respond effectively to the complexities inherent in financial services today.
Design/methodology/approach
After in‐depth secondary research on the topic of leadership and events in the financial services industry, the report offers a novel and holistic approach to managing complexity in today's marketplace.
Findings
Beyond the leadership principles, the research suggests that values, competencies and motivations – or “VCMs” – are like an organization's DNA, or the building blocks of organizational behavior, and therefore the basis for real improvement across an organization's many dimensions. VCMs play a critical role in the outcome of change initiatives and an organization's capacity to adapt, yet they are often overlooked in the leadership dialogue.
Practical implications
VCMs that are well aligned with the seven leadership principles can help empower the effective functioning of organizational levers – such as intelligence and risk management, corporate governance, business models, talent processes and organizational culture – and enhance an organization's ability to adapt to complexity, drive strategic agendas, and improve day‐to‐day operations.
Originality/value
Unprecedented interdependencies in the financial services industry may require a move away from the status quo of many leadership strategies, which tend to deal with complexity in a disjointed fashion. Instead, leaders may need to uncover and understand the interconnected root causes of complexity within their organizations and in the marketplace. We believe a focus on leadership principles and the right set of values, competencies, and motivations to support them can help leaders and their organizations systematically and holistically react to and manage their complicated competitive environments.
A comparison of two groups of college students, at a public state university and a private religious school, yields the same results: undergraduates’ interpretations of recent business scandals make distinctions between public and private behavior. Students admire “family men” even when they are caught at fraud. The students’ interpretations illustrate a significant gap in ethical theories: the benefits of a group perspective for corporate citizenship versus individual family values. Most leadership theories, including stakeholder theories, do not address this disjunction. This article describes the phenomenon and maps the ethics literature to locate the dynamic forces underlying the empirical and theoretical disconnections between leadership and ethics.
The present study attempts to provide a consistent and coherent account of
what the world could be like, given the conceptual framework and results of
contemporary quantum theory. It is suggested that standard quantum mechanics
can, and indeed should, be understood as a realist theory within its domain of
application. It is pointed out, however, that a viable realist interpretation
of quantum theory requires the abandonment or radical revision of the classical
conception of physical reality and its traditional philosophical
presuppositions. It is argued, in this direction, that the conceptualization of
the nature of reality, as arising out of our most basic physical theory, calls
for a kind of contextual realism. Within the domain of quantum mechanics,
knowledge of 'reality in itself', 'the real such as it truly is' independent of
the way it is contextualized, is impossible in principle. In this connection,
the meaning of objectivity in quantum mechanics is analyzed, whilst the
important question concerning the nature of quantum objects is explored.
The brain is described as a system whose states are subject to quantum uncertainty. Conscious observation brings individual states into being from the multiple states possible at a given instant. This gives rise to information, which is the content of consciousness. Synchronicity is the principle by which a single state is generated by conscious observation throughout the brain at a given instant. It is the equivalent of the non-local interaction in quantum theory. Both psychodynamic and cognitive applications of the proposed model are described.