Inclusive leadership toward reshaping corporate purpose for sustainable development

Abstract

This paper delves into the complex relationship between business leadership, sustainability, and inclusivity, representing a step toward developing a more inclusive leadership approach to sustainable development that fosters shared power relations between business leaders and marginalized members of society. With environmental and social conditions worsening, it is urgent for corporations to move away from the neoliberal profit-maximization models advocated by Milton Friedman and instead prioritize humanity and the environment. This shift requires a fundamental restructuring of businesses to move beyond profit maximization and address societal power imbalances by including all stakeholders. Our inclusive leadership for sustainable development framework, rooted in symbolic interactionism, offers a holistic lens for including marginalized groups. At the microlevel, it focuses on business leaders’ personas, characterized by pro-demographic diversity and biodiversity, cognitive complexity for sustainable development, and social empathy, which can potentially create a macro-level impact. These characteristics, accompanied by macro perspectives toward repurposing corporations away from neoliberalism, would be a step forward in cultivating shared power dynamics between business leaders and marginalized communities for the betterment of society.