EMERGENT OPPORTUNITIES IN COMPLEXITY, LEADERSHIP, AND SUSTAINABILITY

The illumination of nonlinear and dynamic systems, exemplified by the complexity of challenges at the nexus of social and ecological systems (e.g., climate change, water scarcity, and environmental injustice), necessitates a new understanding of leadership. Guided by the revolutionary thinking of complexity theory, this leadership perspective details leadership for sustainability. Leadership for sustainability suggests systems are comprised of dynamic relationships, including social and social-ecological relationships, in which every action, and interaction, creates an opportunity to disrupt the system. It is through system disruption that change emerges, as relationships throughout the system form new patterns of equilibrium. In leadership for sustainability, each individual within the system has the capacity to initiate change and the responsibility to continually adjust interactions in support of system sustainability, defined as ecological viability, social equity, and economic prosperity. This leadership perspective explores the implications of leadership for sustainability during and after the global COVID-19 pandemic, emphasizing how leadership scholarship and practice must change to equip all individuals with the capacity to disrupt systems, collaborate across differences, learn continuously, and build relationships in an effort to collectively advance toward a more ecologically, socially, and economically sustainable future.