The Covid pandemic and its related economic meltdown and social unrest has challenged most countries, their societies, institutions, organizations, and individuals. Focusing on both more and less successful country-specific initiatives to fight the pandemic and its consequences, the panel members of this Symposium will explore implications for effective action at the individual, organizational and societal levels. As international / cross-cultural management scholars, the panelists will document actions taken and their various consequences in a wide range of countries around the globe (including Austria, Australia, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, New Zealand, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, UK, and USA). Informed by a cross-cultural lens, the panelists´ opening statements will set the stage for a dialogue to explore such urgent questions as: What is most important for leaders, scholars, and organizations to learn from dealing with critical, life-threatening, society-encompassing ongoing crises? How do leaders build and maintain trust? What kinds of communication have been most effective at various stages of the crisis? How can we accelerate learning processes for effective action? How does cultural resilience emerge within a rapidly changing environment of fear, shifting cultural norms, and challenges to core identity? This dialogue will enable us to learn from each other and begin to discover novel and more successful approaches to tackling grand challenges.