Sixteenth International Conference on Interdisciplinary Social Sciences

Abstract

A glimpse of the future sets the stage for an examination and rebirth of leading change. Thrust into the Fourth Industrial Revolution, an Age of Disruptive Evolution, and a cyber-dominated world with a velocity of organizational disruption never before experienced, a paradigm shift in organizational leadership is needed. A leadership approach that is more organic in nature, one that allows for constant adaptation and itself transforms as a living organism might, is required to meet this era of rapid, exponential, and continual transformation. This work builds on the existing body of leadership scholarship but moves beyond it. The project is founded on an extensive literature review and critical reappraisal of leadership theory. A theoretical reconceptualization of leadership follows. A reimaging of the leadership process leads to an Adaptive DNA leadership model that closes the gap between the present and the future. The proposed model consists of three primary domains and one ingredient that binds it all together, connectivity. Stuck in the current paradigm, most leaders are unable to shift to a more self-organizing, adaptive world, but this new approach to leadership provides answers on leading change in the tumultuous Fourth Industrial Revolution.