Resilient leadership in a fragmented world: strategic approaches for organizational stability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65222/viral.2026.2.6.26Keywords:
Abstract
Stability to fuel success In a world shaped by geopolitical uncertainty, economic dislocation and technological revolution, the stability of organizations now appears to be more important than ever in achieving enduring competitive advantage. This paper explores the concept of resilient leadership as a strategic capability to lead in complex, uncertain conditions. The review of literature on crisis management, adaptive strategy and leadership theories enables development of an integrative conceptual framework that connects leader behaviours, organisational culture and strategic decision-making processes to improved resilience organisation capability. To draw from this framework, we use a qualitative case-study methodology to explore the course of UiPath, a Romania-born global tech company that has shown extraordinary adaptive capability in an era marked by global market turbulence and competition. The case study reveals key leadership practices - aligning vision, communicating with stakeholders and decentralizing decision authority-have allowed continuity but also disruptiveness during turbulent times. Results indicate that resilient leadership acts both as stabilizing and enabling force, stabilizing core values and operational priorities while enabling strategic agility and opportunity discovery. The paper makes two contributions to the literature by integrating disparate pieces of insights into an integrated framework of resilient leadership in this highly fragmented world where executives are searching for actionable approaches to enhance organisational preparedness against a geopolitically fragmented reality. The implications make evident the necessity to develop resilience not only as a reactive capability but as a proactive strategic orientation inherent in leadership development, organizational design and corporate governance.
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