Are you ready to lead through disruption?
In order to support innovation and connection in an era defined by disruption, today’s leaders need to develop a mindset of adaptation and a posture of agility.
Rapid technological changes are creating increasingly digital workplaces — and maintaining human connection through leadership is essential. In this webinar, industry experts discussed how to build effective leaders in the age of AI, the biggest challenges leaders face today, and ways to strengthen your own leadership skills.
Panelist:
- Dr. Louise Drake, Programme Director, Postgraduate Education at Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership
Facilitator:
- Marian Cook, Head Managing Instructor at 2U
About Dr Louise Drake:
Dr Louise Drake is Programme Director for Postgraduate Education at the University of Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL), an impact-led institute that supports leaders in business, finance and government to influence markets, investment and policy decisions for long-term resilience and prosperity. She has the privilege of working each year with 100s of mid-career and senior professionals from across the world who want to use their influence to create thriving organisations, places, economies and societies, through participating in Master’s education in sustainability leadership. This community provides an ideal place to ‘stress test’ ideas from academic research and bring them together with practical insight to drive real impact and change.”
FAQ: How might I apply these insights in my own context?
We received a number of questions about how the insights on hidden dynamics shared by Dr Drake can be applied and what this might mean for leadership in different contexts. We’ve therefore pulled together some diagnostic questions that you could ask to surface some of these hidden dimensions. The reason this is important for leadership is that leadership is fundamentally about influence, but without paying attention to hidden dynamics, influence efforts can often fail. Influence that works is not simply about persuading people more effectively, but understanding what mechanisms might be preventing change and therefore what kind of intervention is needed in a specific context.
- If an outsider judged us by our decisions and outcomes, what would they conclude our real purpose is?
- If certain goals consistently lose out, what does that reveal about what matters most and what our priorities are?
- What patterns keep repeating themselves despite efforts to change them, and what is sustaining them?
- What fixes have made things worse over time?
- What histories (backstories) are shaping people’s hopes and fears?
- What would this challenge look like if viewed outside our region/sector/organisation?
- What assumptions are we making about the future that might no longer hold?
- Who can stall or dilute change—and what interests are they protecting?
- Who/what is deciding what is reasonable or desirable?
- What risks are considered unacceptable and for who?
- What informal networks or relationships drive outcomes behind the scenes?
- What does someone need to do to be seen as a credible influencer?
- Who is the ‘we’ and who is the ‘us’?
- When have we compromised on our values and why?
- If we were fully aligned with our stated values, what would be stop doing?
- Where might an over or under-developed character trait be compromising wise judgement?
Uncovering hidden dynamics doesn’t immediately present us with easy pathways forward, but they inform another crucial question: as a result of this insight, what could we stop / start / test further? This isn’t about overcoming all these hidden dynamics, but experimenting with and actively learning from different modes of influence in order to lead more effectively.
Below are some publications and resources that you might find useful under each of the ‘hidden’ themes.
- CISL (2025) Leadership Capabilities for the 21st Century: Thriving in an age of disruption: Leadership Capabilities for the 21st Century: Thriving in an age of disruption | Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)
- Hurth, V., Renshaw, B. and Fioramonti, L. (2025) Beyond Profit: Purpose-Driven Leadership for a Wellbeing Economy, John Murray Business.
- School of Systems Change: Home - School of System Change
- Positive tipping points toolkit by the University of Exeter: Positive Tipping Points Toolkit- Commons Library
- Kutz, M. (2016) Contextual Intelligence: How Thinking in 3D Can Help Resolve Complexity, Uncertainty, and Ambiguity, Springer International Publishing AG.
- Ramanna, K. (2024) The Age of Outrage: How to Lead in a Polarized World, Harvard Business Review Press
- Haugaard, M. (2020) The Four Dimensions of Power: Understanding Domination, Empowerment and Democracy, Manchester University Press.
- Kemp, L. (2025) Goliath's Curse: The History and Future of Societal Collapse, Penguin.
- The Power Cube – understanding power for social change: Powercube home template
- When have we compromised on our values and why?
- If we were fully aligned with our stated values, what would be stop doing?
- Where might an over or under-developed character trait be compromising wise judgement?
- Haslam, S.A., Alvesson, M. and Reicher, S.D. (2024) ‘Zombie leadership: Dead ideas that still walk among us’, The Leadership Quarterly, 35 (3), available at: Zombie leadership: Dead ideas that still walk among us - ScienceDirect, including Zombie leadership card project
- Haslam, S.A., Reicher, S.D. and Platow, M. J. (2026) The New Psychology of Leadership: Identity, Influence and Power, 3rd edition, Routledge.
- The Oxford Character Project: The Oxford Character Project | Home