Executive Morning Brief: How to lead when the answer is not clear

In a time of political instability and growing social division, leaders are increasingly expected to take a stand on complex, ethically charged issues such as diversity, equity, and sustainability. But these challenges rarely come with clear solutions — and often provoke resistance, discomfort, or even backlash.

Tobias Thaning

Community Director

Introduction

In this Executive Morning Brief, we explore how DEI and sustainability can be understood as adaptive leadership challenges: problems that can’t be solved with immediate technical fixes. Rather, DEI and sustainability and similar value-contested topics increasingly require leaders to navigate within tensions and create space for shared learning, experimentation, and sometimes conflict.

Key questions:

  • How is the current political climate affecting business and organizational leadership?

  • Faced with current backlashes, what does it take for leaders to stay on the DEI journey – especially when facing tension or resistance in their organization?

  • How can we expand our understanding of diversity in cross-cultural contexts where norms and expectations differ?

  • What adaptive steps can leaders take to move from symbolic gesture to meaningful action?

This Executive Morning Brief was held on May 16, 2025.

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