The Power of Inclusive Leadership During Global Conflict

When everything feels like it’s falling apart, most leaders’ first instinct is to tighten control and trust fewer people—but that’s exactly the wrong move.

Right now, business leaders are operating amid ongoing geopolitical instability that demands different approaches. With conflicts and rising tensions across multiple regions, what the World Economic Forum calls the “disintegration of the post-war international order” has become the new operating environment. In fact, sixty-seven percent of executives now cite geopolitical instability as their top concern for growth. 

The executives I work with keep asking the same question: What kind of leadership do we need when everything feels unstable? 

The answer isn’t what most people expect. The organizations that perform best during geopolitical uncertainty don’t just close ranks and centralise control. They do the opposite: they deliberately seek out more diverse perspectives, not fewer. This counterintuitive approach to crisis leadership can mean the difference between surviving disruption and turning it into an advantage. 

The Problem with Traditional Crisis Leadership

When facing geopolitical instability, most leaders’ instincts push them toward centralized decision-making and tighter control. This response feels logical and protective. 

But this approach has a flaw rooted in human psychology. The human brain suffers from something called “threat rigidity” when we’re scared. We literally think more narrowly. It kept our ancestors alive when they were running from wild animals, but it’s terrible for modern executives trying to make sense of overlapping crises. 

Research shows that teams including diverse perspectives make better decisions 87% of the time. When organizations must assess whether to exit markets due to sanctions or reroute supply chains around conflict zones, this decision-making advantage becomes material to business success. 

The irony is that precisely when leaders feel the most pressure to narrow their circle of advisors, they need to expand it. 

Why Diverse Teams See What Others Miss

Organizations that successfully anticipate geopolitical developments often have an advantage that isn’t immediately obvious: leadership teams with varied geographic and cultural experiences. Research on how companies handle geopolitical disruptions shows that managers must make decisions “in tight time frames, with incomplete information.” 

Better data analytics can’t solve this challenge. What makes the difference is having team members who interpret signals differently because they bring different life experiences and professional networks to the analysis. 

Consider early warning systems. Who’s most likely to spot brewing political instability in emerging markets? Someone who grew up there, speaks the language, and maintains family or professional connections. Who’s best positioned to understand the ripple effects of regulatory changes across multiple jurisdictions? Someone who’s worked in various legal systems. 

This isn’t about political correctness or social justice—it’s about intelligence gathering. 

The Research on Inclusive Leadership and Resilience

The connection between inclusive leadership and organizational resilience during crisis has solid academic backing. A study on inclusive leadership and employee resilience found that employees working under leaders who actively seek diverse perspectives show higher resilience during stressful periods. When geopolitical events create widespread anxiety, this psychological resilience translates directly into organizational capacity. 

However, there’s an important caveat. Research published in the International Journal of Project Management shows that inclusive leadership can increase stress for leaders themselves unless they develop their own resilience capabilities. This suggests that effective crisis leadership requires both inclusive practices and personal capacity building. 

What This Looks Like in Practice

So, what does inclusive leadership actually mean when organizations face sanctions, supply chain disruptions, or rapid regulatory changes? Well, it starts with rethinking how you gather and process information. 

Most geopolitical risk assessments reflect the biases of their authors’ educational and professional backgrounds. When I’m hiring for senior roles now, I prioritize candidates who maintain networks in regions where policy decisions are made—including markets that may not seem immediately relevant today but could become critical tomorrow. Having diverse voices in meetings matters, but what really matters is having access to different intelligence networks and early warning systems. 

Once you have better information sources, you can start seeing opportunities where others see only threats. While competitors become paralyzed by uncertainty, nimble organizations with diverse leadership teams can spot openings that others miss. New markets open when old ones close. Regulatory changes that hurt some companies can benefit others who saw them coming. But spotting these opportunities requires people who think differently about risk and possibility. 

Having diverse perspectives means nothing, though, if people don’t feel safe sharing what they really think. Companies recover most quickly from external shocks when employees feel safe raising concerns. Geopolitical tensions typically reduce this openness unless leaders actively work to maintain it. This means creating space for dissenting views and uncomfortable questions, even when—especially when—pressure is high. 

All of this comes together in how you plan for the future. Studies on crisis management effectiveness show that teams with varied cultural backgrounds generate more thorough risk assessments and develop more innovative response strategies. Don’t just plan for what your current team thinks might happen—include people who might see different possibilities entirely. The goal isn’t consensus; it’s comprehensiveness. 

The Leadership Reality

Leaders are experiencing unprecedented levels of burnout, particularly frontline managers dealing with constant organizational change because of the current geopolitical climate. Meanwhile, geopolitical risks keep getting more frequent and severe. 

The leaders who will succeed in this environment don’t assume stability will return. They build organizations capable of operating effectively amid ongoing uncertainty. This requires what researchers call “transformational and directive leadership capabilities”—leaders must inspire and adapt while providing clear direction and structure. 

However, building this kind of inclusive leadership capability takes time, and many organizations are trying to do it while they are already in crisis mode.  

The research is clear, but implementation is hard. It requires leaders who can manage their own stress while seeking out perspectives that might be uncomfortable or challenging. It means building teams that can spot opportunities while others see only threats. 

From an executive search perspective, this changes what I look for in senior leadership candidates. The leaders who will define organizational success in the coming decade aren’t those who can manage during stable periods—they’re those who can create coherence and direction while valuing the cognitive diversity that makes adaptation possible during crises. 

We can’t predict which geopolitical events will emerge next year, or the year after that. But we know that some organizations will turn those events into opportunities while others will be caught unprepared. The difference usually comes down to the conversations happening in executive teams and boardrooms—and who’s included in those conversations. 

About the Author

Eleri Dodsworth is a Partner at Stanton Chase London and serves as the Regional Leader for the Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging practice group for the EMEA region. She also represents the firm on the AESC Diversity Leadership Council for Europe and Africa.      

Eleri is a passionate advocate for equity, inclusion, diversity, and belonging. She strongly believes in helping her clients build diverse leadership teams, seeing diversity and inclusion as essential values that significantly impact business performance. Eleri specializes in placing leaders at the C-suite level, divisional directors, and non-executive directors in listed companies, as well as in private equity, family-owned, and privately owned businesses.