2025 AOM Annual Meeting: Leadership in a Turbulent Era

Leadership in today’s organizations operates in an era of unprecedented turbulence. Crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic, geopolitical upheavals, rapid technological advancements, and social movements for justice and equity challenge leaders at all levels to adapt to dynamic, unpredictable environments. These conditions, often referred to as “polycrisis,” highlight the need for robust, context- sensitive leadership capable of managing both immediate threats and long-term systemic changes. This symposium brings together cutting- edge and recent insights from scholars from the fields of organizational behavior (OB), organizational change and development (OCD), and strategy (STR), and features a short introduction, four presentations that each address a foundational aspects of leadership in turbulent times, followed by an in-depth reflection by one of the most renowned management scholars Nicolai Foss, and a final Q&A session.

Drawing on research and case studies, Professors Janka Stoker and Harry Garretsen will provide key insights into how leaders can navigate complexity while fostering healthy organizational dynamics, effective strategies, and meaningful change. Each part of the symposium will hopefully encourage dialogue among management scholars from various fields facilitating cross-disciplinary learning and collaboration.

During the symposium Stoker and Garretsen will launch the new book 'Leadership in a Turbulent Era', of which they are the editors. They will hand the first copy to Nicolai Foss.