Author Archives: Elisabeth Dostal

The challenge that in-formation leadership addresses is that of a need for wide-spread paradigm shifts and the redesign of institutions and industries. Without leaders from the establishment pairing up with alternative thinkers in leadership networks, supported by systemic methodological frameworks … Continue reading →

In the whole conference, which related responsible leadership to sustainability, the word technology did not feature (except in our workshop). Yet, technological choices are one of the main co-producers of our global sustainability related problems. They could also be a … Continue reading →

Field versus web leadership: In listening to the conference presentations on leadership, I noticed that the leaders that are typically held up as the inspiration for other leaders to follow are those I would regard as “field” leaders (e.g. Nelson Mandela, … Continue reading →

Leaders knowing what but not how! Probably the most disconcerting insight from the summing up session was the problems leaders experience with the implementation of their visions. Do we still talk leadership if there is no idea of how to, even … Continue reading →

To come back to the river and its bed (as referred to in the post on the dominance and limits of the people centred leadership paradigm): of course, the river also changes the riverbed, eroding sand and rocks. This is, however, … Continue reading →

Whenever leadership development is discussed, it is typically done in the context of a person as a leader. Or if an organisation is leading in a field (e.g. by operating sustainably), it is mostly ascribed to a person (e.g. the … Continue reading →

I have recently attended the conference Africa Leads: Responsible Leadership for Africa and the World.  I was inspired by many of the presentations. At the same time, I wondered about the following issues associated with the current leadership paradigm, based … Continue reading →

I would suggest that one could start with some reflections (e.g. involving a PhD or Master student, or a team of economics students) on systems thinking and economic theory. For example, one could reflect on the various concepts that make … Continue reading →

Biomatrix Systems Theory distinguishes between physical and conceptual reality. This distinction is especially relevant in the context of the global finance system (i.e. money coupled to a physical commodity versus money coupled to a conceptual commodity). In 2008, the amount of … Continue reading →