Learning to Lead in Uncertain Times through Storytelling and Improvisation

The second decade of the 21st century confronts us with seemingly intractable global challenges, such as climate change, the global financial crisis and the war on terror. Yet, our leaders in government and industry often disappoint with inadequate solutions and self-interested or even corrupt actions.1 One could even add ‘credible global leadership’ as one of the 21st century challenges. Increasingly, our clients in the private, public and charitable sectors express unease and distrust in national and international leadership at the same time as they are forced to face the fallout of these global challenges at the organisational level. To them, and us, the world feels increasingly complex, uncertain and ‘messy’; the contexts in which we live and work are experienced as unstable and constantly shifting under our very feet. Our concern in this paper is with ordinary, everyday leaders (see Binney et al., 2009) who are called upon to do extraordinary things to help keep their organisations on a viable course in these turbulent times.