Leadership for CSR and Sustainability Issues

Running head: LEADERSHIP FOR CSR AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES
Leadership for Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and Sustainability Issues in
Strategic Management in the 21st century
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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LEADERSHIP FOR CSR AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES
Table of Contents
1. Introduction............................................................................................................................2
2. Discussion..............................................................................................................................2
2.1 Leadership for Corporate Social Responsibility in the 21st Century................................2
2.2 Sustainability Issues in Strategic Management in the 21st Century.................................4
3. Conclusion..............................................................................................................................8
4. List of References..................................................................................................................9

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LEADERSHIP FOR CSR AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES
1. Introduction
Leadership can be stated as the practical skill, which eventually encompasses the core
ability of any organization and individual for the purpose of leading or guiding other
individuals, teams and an entire organization (Gorski 2017, p. 373). This leadership
comprises of some of the major traits, behaviours, functionalities, power, values, vision,
situational interactions, intelligence and charisma. Leadership and corporate social
responsibility are closely linked with one another, especially in the 21st century. Nowadays,
few of the leaders are facing several environmental, social and economic challenges and
within the global environment of ambiguity and uncertainty, these leaders have to anticipate
the major changes and even to be catalysts for shifting the organizations towards a
sustainable society (Bolman and Deal, 2017, p. 2).
Strategic management is the continuous planning, analysis, assessment as well as
monitoring of each and every requirement that is extremely important and significant for any
specific organization to fulfil the objectives and goals. The following research essay outlines
a brief discussion on the broad topic of leadership for corporate social responsibility or CSR
as well as various sustainability issues within strategic management in the 21st century with
details.
2. Discussion
2.1 Leadership for Corporate Social Responsibility in the 21st Century
Leadership is the core ability of any individual for influencing as well as guiding the
followers and other members of the organization. Difficult decision making process is
involved in leadership for creation and articulation of clear vision and even establishment of
achievable goals and objectives (Hackman and Johnson, 2013, p. 2). Relevant tools and

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LEADERSHIP FOR CSR AND SUSTAINABILITY ISSUES
knowledge are extremely important for successful achievement of goals. An effective leader
eventually possesses some of the most significant characteristics like strong communication,
management skills, self confidence, and willingness in taking risks, innovative and creative
thinking and many more (Tschannen-Moran, 2014, p. 1). There is an important role of
leadership during implementation of CSR practices after taking into account the growing
interests towards business related ethics.
The rapid pace of changes is eventually forcing the leaders in finding innovative and
creative solutions for coping up with several stakeholders, whose requirements, needs and
interests can sometimes indulge in conflicts (Cameron et al., 2014, p. 3). Within the
complicated globalized environment of ambiguity and uncertainty, the leaders should
anticipate the various changes and then act as a catalyst to shift the business towards a more
sustainable society. One of the new organizational challenges depend on the obligations and
growing needs for sustainability (Frohlich and Oppenheimer, 2015, p. 2). The various
perceptions of corporate social responsibility that have been generated can be extremely
deceptive and can create barriers for any organization. CSR is a multi layer concept with
various significant responsibilities of economic, legal, ethical and philanthropic.
The 21st century world is being shaped by leaders. For building a sustainable world,
the intersection of ethics and leadership is extremely important. Leadership plays a
significant role while promoting moral and ethical behaviour. Furthermore, the leaders must
be models for their followers and should eventually aim to shape the companies by own
characteristics and values (Grint et al., 2016, p. 3). The employees of that specific
organization rely on leaders for getting guidance whenever faced with the ethical dilemma.
The behaviour of leader must be ethical and visible for both externally and internally to the
respective company.