Post by Stanford University Graduate School of Business

Leadership isn’t about having all the answers. At the recent Stanford Leadership Forum, experts shared why leadership is about finding a way forward despite uncertainty. “Leaders are not just people who react to external forces in society,” said Professor Ken Shotts, the Vélez Reyes Faculty Director of Stanford Leadership Institute (SLI). “They also have agency to shape how those forces impact their organizations and all of us in society.” Former UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, MBA ’06, highlighted the tension that leaders in a changing world must navigate. “This geopolitical world that we’re living in is the most dangerous period of our adult lifetimes,” he said. “The paradox of the moment is that it’s at the same time the most transformational time that any of us have ever lived in.” Citadel founder and CEO Ken Griffin discussed leading through uncertainty, urging leaders to reject the “sunk cost fallacy” that paralyzes large organizations. “Really successful businesses know when they need to change direction,” he said. “You only get there if you have an open and honest dialogue about when you’re going in the wrong direction.” At the conclusion of the session, Dean Sarah Soule offered a reminder of what the SLI and Stanford GSB aim to instill. “If we are successful, all of our students… will leave here with an entrepreneurial mindset as an investor and as a leader.” Read more about the Stanford Leadership Forum here: https://lnkd.in/eZMNFSF8