Ancestral leadership: Place-based intergenerational leadership

This article introduces the notion of ancestral leadership that emerges from intergenerational wisdom at the intersection of people, place and ancestral knowledge. Place is a key component of collective continuity in ancestral leadership that reinforces identity, belonging and intergenerational reciprocity. The findings show that places carry leadership legacies and require ongoing maintenance to ensure genealogies of leadership are available to future generations. Engagement with ancestral leadership and its practical application is not bound to tribal and cultural contexts. By knowing the place of someone’s ancestors as a lens into their leadership, one sees structures of accountability that extends beyond culturally bound contexts, and includes their leadership expressed in professional environments. The authors contribute to leadership theory by illuminating how ancestral legacies of leadership continue to inform contemporary generations of leadership and is transmitted intergenerationally within frameworks of genealogy.

Intergenerational leadership: an extension of contemporary corporate social responsibility models

The following paper promotes the idea of intergenerational equity in the corporate world as Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) means to coordinating the common goods and imbuing economic stability beyond a purely governmental approach. The outlined intergenerational equity constraints herald a call for intergenerational equity – the fairness to provide an at least as favorable standard of living as enjoyed today. As an implicit contract and transfer between living and future generations, intergenerational equity avoids discriminating against future generations and ensures future infrastructure, equal opportunities over time and constant access to social welfare for the youth. Intergenerational equity grants a favorable climate between generations and alleviates frictions arising from the negative impacts of intergenerational inequity. Outlining some of the causes of the current intergenerational imbalances regarding climate stability and overindebtedness prepares for recommendations on how to implement intergenerational transfers. The impact of intergenerational transfers on societal well-being is discussed. Future research avenues comprise of investigating situational factors influencing intergenerational leadership in the international arena in order to advance the idea of the private sector aiding on intergenerational imbalances and tackling the most pressing contemporary challenges of humankind.

Global responsible intergenerational leadership

Purpose Global systemic risks of climate change, overindebtedness in the aftermath of the 2008/2009 World Financial Crisis and the need for pension reform in the wake of an aging western world population, currently raise attention for intergenerational fairness. Pressing social dilemmas beyond the control of singular nation states call for corporate social activities to back governmental regulation in crisis mitigation. The purpose of this paper is to promote the idea of intergenerational equity in the corporate world. Design/methodology/approach Theoretical description. Findings In the given literature on global responsible leadership in the corporate sector and contemporary corporate social responsibility (CSR) models, intergenerational equity appears to have been neglected. While the notion of sustainability has been integrated in CSR models, intergenerational equity has hardly been touched on as for being a more legal case for codifying the triple bottom line. Practical implications Advocating for integrating intergenerational equity concerns in CSR models in academia and practice holds untapped advantages of economically influential corporate entities, corporate adaptability and independence from voting cycles. Social implications Integrating a temporal dimension in contemporary CSR helps imbuing a longer-term perspective into the corporate world alongside advancing tax ethics and global governance crises prevention. Originality/value Future research avenues comprise of investigating situational factors influencing intergenerational leadership in the international arena in order to advance the idea of corporations tackling the most pressing contemporary challenges of mankind.