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Complexity: The Tipping Point for Leadership

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Abstract

Leadership theory has developed over the last century, in turn informed by developments in scientific theories from social science, natural science, and interdisciplinary fields. General systems theory (GST) triggered a paradigm shift in leadership thinking and began the transformation of organizations from the old managerialism dominated regime to open systems. However, complexity theory (CT) provided the lens through which organizations could be viewed as complex adaptive systems (CAS), thereby providing a powerful arsenal of tools for tackling critical current and future leadership problems as complex as viral epidemics, population dynamics, climate change, and speciesism.

Author Note:

The human mind is capable of so much. The key to unlocking its infinite potential truly lies in traversing the bridge of knowledge, thereby enabling the average mind to reach the transformative heights of leadership . The measure of a leader lies in the positive change he/she is able to affect, and the processes therein involved. Complexity theory provides the tools for recognizing, understanding, and addressing the most complex problems characteristic of our time.

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Ram, K. (2018). Complexity: The Tipping Point for Leadership. In: Thakkar, B. (eds) The Future of Leadership. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-73870-3_4

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