Resilient leadership
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Keywords

Hope
Patience
Virtue
sustainable leadership
Resilience
Psychological capital

How to Cite

Waldner, S. (2023). Resilient leadership: How the virtues of hope and patience can become essential elements for resilience in uncertain times. Scandinavian Journal for Leadership and Theology, 10, 299–314. https://doi.org/10.53311/sjlt.v10.78

Abstract

Today's society faces many uncertainties at the economic, financial, relational, and psychological levels caused by the effects of the Covid 19 pandemic, global poverty, wars, environmental pollution, and the climate crisis. As a result, the call for sustainable leadership is growing louder these days. A key aspect of sustainability is seen in resilience, which is understood as the ability to adapt to and cope with constantly changing situations and the uncertainty of future developments. This applies to organizations as well as to leaders on a personal level.

This paper will discuss the extent to which effective and sustainable leadership must be based on virtues and how hope and patience, in particular, play a fundamental role in building resilience. After a brief overview of the interpretive history of these virtues, philosophical, ethical, psychological, and especially biblical and theological insights are utilized to identify transcendence, emotional well-being, and responsibility as key features of hope and patience. It will be shown that these virtues are important components of the so-called “psychological capital” as they look beyond present difficulties by holding on to a greater narrative and generating unwavering and persistent endurance despite difficulties. Thus, hope and patience are essential components of the individual resources of every leader, fostering an attitude of humility, protecting against burnout. and leading to responsible action in uncertain times.

https://doi.org/10.53311/sjlt.v10.78
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