10. Connective Leadership and Sustainable Development

No time like the present to emphasize the need for a new style of leadership, trait, and classical leadership theories are not effective for current global crises. Organizations that achieve goals within the UN SDGs framework will have a competitive advantage over those organizations that do not. Global interdependence and diversity are two present forces that need to be acknowledged by management, in a global environment where interconnectedness is inevitable, leaders need to collaborate, establish networks, care about and for others, be empathetic, and lead by example. Leaders whose decisions are guided by a sustainability mindset know themselves, respect nature, and are aware of the other. The development of a sustainability mindset is transformative learning in action, it allows reframing of one’s meaning-making process to make it more inclusive. Connective leadership allows leaders to understand existence, and successfully deal with interconnectedness and diversity, two forces that cannot be denied and that are present in the contemporary global environment. Connective leaders are empathetic, collaborative, networkers, lifelong learners, and nurture followers; they are transformative. Sustainability mindset and connective leadership are practices that can be learned. In this chapter connective leadership will be introduced and its links to sustainability mindset, UN SDGs, and transformative leadership will be established.