Leading a Company That Can Thrive in a Chaotic World

Lessons from CEOs of major American and European companies.

April 01, 2024

MirageC/Getty Images

Post

Annotate

Save

Worldwide, the past few years have been marked by multiple, intersecting crises — and things aren’t likely to get less complicated anytime soon. The authors met with a group of CEOs to discuss how they lead amid this ongoing chaos. To thrive in this chaotic new world, organizations need leaders with inner strength, character, and a moral compass. By continually adapting and learning, they’ll enable their organizations to navigate these ever-turbulent waters.

Recently, we met with a group of American and European CEOs of major companies to discuss how to lead in the context of the multiple, intersecting crises the world is facing — from geopolitical conflicts to environmental disasters, deepening political and social fractures, disrupted value chains, and disruptive technological change. This challenging context is causing significant stress for these leaders and their employees.

New!

HBR Learning

Leading People Course

Accelerate your career with Harvard ManageMentor®. HBR Learning’s online leadership training helps you hone your skills with courses like Leading People. Earn badges to share on LinkedIn and your resume. Access more than 40 courses trusted by Fortune 500 companies.

What you need to know about being in charge.

Start Course

Learn More & See All Courses

Thomas Buberl is the CEO and director of AXA. He holds a Master of Economics degree from WHU Koblenz (Germany), an MBA from Lancaster University (UK), and a PhD in economics from the University of St.Gallen (Switzerland). He is a member of the IBM board and a member of the board of trustees of the World Economic Forum.

Bill George is a professor at Harvard Business School and the author of True North: Emerging Leader Edition. He was the CEO of Medtronic from 1991 to 2001 and has served on the boards of Goldman Sachs, Novartis, Target, ExxonMobil, and Mayo Clinic.

Hubert Joly is the former chairman and CEO of Best Buy, a senior lecturer at Harvard Business School, and the author, with Caroline Lambert, of The Heart of Business. He has been recognized as one of the top 100 CEOs in the world by Harvard Business Review, one of the top 30 CEOs in the world by Barron’s, and one of the top 10 CEOs in the U.S. by Glassdoor. Joly is now keen to add his voice and his energy to the necessary refoundation of business and capitalism around purpose and people.

Nitin Nohria is the George F. Baker Jr. Professor at Harvard Business School and the former dean of HBS.