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.
- Tobias Thaning
Related programs
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Leading in a Complex World
Summer School4 days·2025-08-18DKK 24,000Develop the skills to think long-term, adapt to complex challenges, and build resilience in your leadership. Explore how to navigate sustainability dilemmas and create meaningful, lasting change in your organization and beyond.
The course is structured as follows: August 18-20, 2025, with full-day sessions from 09:00 to approximately 16:30, and two additional half-day sessions on September 11 and October 6, 2025.
