ABSTRACT
Human activities are leading to global environmental changes that threaten the stability and integrity of both human and natural systems globally. Environmental research has revealed that dramatic societal shifts are required to mitigate and adapt to anthropogenic climate change, biodiversity loss and other associated environmental changes. The scale, magnitude, complexity and urgency of environmental crises pose profound challenges for conceptions of leadership, within both organisations and societies at large. As a counterpoint to conventional leadership theories, this chapter presents ‘ecological leadership’ as a way forward. It presents a perspective on global ecological change and the failure of historical leadership to grapple adequately with the interdependency of humans and the natural world. Drawing on existing theories of ecological leadership, it highlights the importance of relational approaches by considering organisations’ positionality with respect to socio-environmental realities. This chapter brings leadership studies into conversation with fundamental principles of social–ecological systems and recent scholarship from sustainability science, emphasising the complexity of relationships, non-linear dynamics and the normativity of transformative futures.
