Well into the 21st century, businesses are operating in extraordinarily complex and uncertain times. At the beginning of 2020, a reprioritization of corporate goals came to the forefront, including a laser-like focus on the global environment and more sustainable and inclusive capitalism (Fink, 2020). By March 2020, organizations were faced with an unprecedented global pandemic, turning the workforce upside down, and then in June 2020, the U.S. experienced societal and cultural unraveling with the Black Lives Matters movement, akin to the social justice and empowerment movement of #MeToo. By the end of 2021 hybrid work had taken full effect posing organizational threats, such as employee well being and burn-out and #TheGreatResignation.

These local and global actions, as well as political, technological, humanistic, and economic/market forces, have defined a new era of business—the digital organization (Szabla & Gorman, 2020). In this new era, leaders need to lead with wisdom—i.e., having intellectual honesty and intellectual humility—as well as integrative thinking (Khilji, 2019). Wisdom allows a balance of both knowing and doubting (Weick, 2012, as stated in Khilji, 2019).

Entrepreneurship is another skill that leaders could benefit from in the era of the digital organization. “Entrepreneurs are visionaries that can imagine, adapt, and act nimbly to address whatever challenges come their way” (Bhatia & Levina, 2020). Being equipped with a flexible mindset, coupled with the higher risk tolerance that entrepreneurs embody, will help address the unprecedented challenges organizations face today.

At the same time, a dynamism exists within organizations, with processes for the individual “self” and group “others” (Hatch & Schultz, 2002) such as emotional agility, reflection, critical thinking, goal alignment and action, and organizational feedback; the interrelationship between these processes informs sustainable leadership.