3: Leadership Resilience in a VUCA World

One of the major assumptions concerning leadership is that working across international borders creates a scenario in which leaders are “thrown into” a mess — which we have called a VUCA setting — volatile, uncertain, complex, and ambiguous. While it is true that many leaders work globally today, this does not necessarily mean that it creates undue strife for all leaders.

What is the difference between a leader who embraces the complexity of working with other cultures, countries, and contexts and one who does not? Why do some leaders resist this change, resulting in burnout, stress, anger, dishonesty, and dysfunction while other leaders have learnt to embrace these challenges in order to become stronger, smarter, and better leaders? I suggest one major difference is their resilience.