Future Ready Leadership – Navigating the Polycrisis Challenge

In today’s environment, leaders are not facing a single challenge at a time, they are navigating overlapping crises that feed into each other, a phenomenon known as a polycrisis. Unlike an isolated disruption, a polycrisis is not a single event to be endured and resolved. It is a complex, shifting landscape in which economic instability, geopolitical tensions, environmental challenges, technological disruption, and social change collide.

These interconnected disruptions require a new set of future-oriented leadership capabilities that allow organisations to remain resilient, adaptive, and relevant in the face of complexity.

At our ChapmanCG HR Leaders Forum in Malaysia, we brought together a diverse group of people leaders to explore the capabilities needed to lead effectively in this environment.

Ambidextrous Thinking

Leaders must be able to balance the urgent demands of the present with the need to innovate for the future. This means optimising existing systems for stability while also experimenting with new approaches that position the organisation to thrive when conditions shift.

For example, addressing a supply chain disruption is no longer just about logistics. It might involve geopolitical analysis, workforce planning, digital transformation, and environmental considerations, all interconnected.

This type of problem-solving calls for creativity, experimentation, and flexibility while staying anchored to a clear strategic north star. Leaders must be willing to test solutions, learn from failure, and adapt rapidly as new information emerges.

Developing Foresight

In a polycrisis, reaction is not enough; leaders must actively scan for early signals of change. By integrating data, trend analysis, and scenario planning, they can anticipate emerging risks and opportunities before they fully materialise.

Such inner capabilities don’t develop by accident; they require deliberate cultivation through reflection, learning, and feedback. Leaders who invest in their own growth are better equipped to inspire confidence and stability in those they lead.

Collective Sensemaking

No single leader can interpret a complex, fast-changing environment alone. Effective leaders facilitate diverse groups to share information, debate interpretations, and arrive at a shared understanding of what is happening and why it matters. This also involves building structures and networks that enable collective decision-making across sectors and regions.

This approach shifts leaders from being reactive problem-solvers to proactive shapers of the future. It focuses on guiding through uncertainty while also helping to design the systems and partnerships that will define the next era.

Growing & Sustaining Ecosystems

Resilience in a polycrisis relies on the strength of one’s network. Leaders must build and sustain strategic alliances with partners, industry bodies, communities, and even competitors to share resources, expertise, and solutions. It also demonstrates the ability to recover swiftly from setbacks, keep perspective, and display calmness under pressure.

Leading Transformation

Change during stable times is challenging. During a polycrisis it becomes essential. Leaders must inspire confidence, communicate a clear vision, and mobilise teams to embrace transformation even when the future feels uncertain.

This involves two interconnected modes:

• Disruptive leadership — making bold, calculated moves that challenge the status quo, even at the risk of short-term discomfort or controversy. This could involve pivoting an entire business model, exiting legacy markets, or betting early on emerging technologies.
• Visionary change — creating a compelling image of a better future and motivating people to move towards it. This is not just about having a vision, but about maintaining momentum through uncertainty.

Transformative leaders are at ease with ambiguity, willing to question longstanding assumptions, and capable of making tough decisions with wide-reaching consequences. They recognise that resistance is natural and engage with it proactively, listening, explaining, and adapting while remaining committed to long-term goals.

Building Organisational Resilience

Resilient organisations can absorb shocks without losing their core capabilities. This also requires the capacity to recover quickly from setbacks, maintain perspective, and remain calm under pressure. Leaders achieve this by diversifying supply chains, investing in adaptable systems, and embedding a culture that can pivot quickly in response to disruption.

From a Talent Management perspective, this involves fundamentally rethinking how organisations identify, develop, and retain leaders. The traditional approach to leadership pipelines—promoting based on past performance in stable conditions—no longer works. Instead, organisations must redefine what “high potential” means, prioritising adaptability, systems thinking, and the ability to operate in ambiguity. This approach allows leaders to shift from being reactive problem-solvers to proactive shapers of the future. It is about steering through uncertainty while also helping to design the systems and partnerships that will define the next era.

Identification must go beyond technical expertise to capture a leader’s capacity for foresight, collaboration, and resilience under sustained pressure. Development, likewise, needs to shift from static training programs toward immersive, real-world experiences that build both strategic agility and emotional stamina. Retention strategies must recognise that top leaders now seek purpose, cross-sector impact, and the autonomy to innovate; without those, they will leave for roles where they can influence bigger, systemic change. In short, talent management must move from simply filling roles to curating a leadership ecosystem capable of thriving in complexity.