Lessons of Educating Tomorrow’s Business Leaders

Narrowing the gap between chief executive officer and worker pay, contributing to social and economic amelioration, harnessing the talents of a diverse workforce, addressing climate change, managing uncertain global economic and political dynamics, and leveraging advances in science and technology: Perhaps more than ever in history, these challenges demand that we recast our concept of what makes for effective business leadership. Leadership is best viewed not as a single person but as a process that is spread throughout the organization and considers a wide range of stakeholders. The dimensions aligned with this distributed leadership model include tenacity, judgment, communication skills, sensitivity to a wide array of stakeholders and external trends, emotional intelligence, the capacity to learn, moral virtue, humility, and the ability to create environments that inspire others. Approaches for learning these dimensions include formal education, on-the-job learning, and self-directed learning. Meeting the challenges business leaders face will demand that they think deeply about the legacy they wish to create for themselves and their organizations.