The Leadership Lab

“Real leadership combines both logic and emotion, both short- and long-term thinking.”

Leadership is in crisis. The “Western reductionist” approach that focuses on quantitative analyses of major problems is insufficient to address today’s rapidly changing global situation. Leaders must apply their imagination and broaden their perspective to regain the trust of their constituents and employees. Leaders should embrace humility and admit their ignorance and uncertainty, since people too often mistake confidence for competence.

For the prepared leader, change can be evolutionary. For the unprepared, change can bring cataclysmic consequences. Leaders who can absorb and understand changing situations fluently manage these shifts with greater effectiveness.

Imagination is more powerful than knowledge.

Receiving too much information distracts and disorients leaders. In filtering out what they don’t want to see, leaders can become narrow-minded in their approach to problems. Focusing on the quantitative means ignoring qualitative factors, such as compassion. When too...