Leading Toward Sustainability during Crisis: A Phenomenological Study of the 2008 Recession.

摘要

Sustainability has been identified as one of the many challenges facing humanity. Solutions to the sustainability challenge have traditionally been discussed within three separate pillars: economics, environment, and organizations. Recent discourse centered on the need for a more holistic approach to the topic that would unify the three pillars has begun to take place in academic circles, although action has yet to be seen on a large scale. Prigogine and Stengers (1984) and Kirk (2000) contended that breaking points within both natural and social systems provide opportunities for sustainable action. Crews (2010), Ismail (2011), and Senge (1990) argued that leadership is an integral component to sustainability action through the leader's ability to both guide the transformation process and implement policy. This study seeks to understand the essence of leaders' interior response to the Great Recession of 2008 with regard to sustainability and leadership. The impact of the Great Recession of 2008 on organizational leaders with regards to sustainable policy making was examined by addressing: (a) how sustainability is defined, (b) the philosophy that underlies sustainable thinking, (c) leadership elements that are important to sustainable implementation, and (d) how system breaking points provide the opportunity for sustainable transformation.;Keywords: Sustainability, Leadership, Paradigm Shifts, Great Recession.