An image of Core magazine, showing a US flag in a storm on the front cover, accompanied by the word 'Turbulence'. That sits upon a second copy of the magazine, which is opened to the third page to show the regular First Word article by Andy Lockett, Dean of Warwick Business School.

Turbulence: Good leadership is vital to help firms thrive during challenging times

Warwick Business School has launched its new edition of Core magazine to help business leaders navigate an increasingly turbulent climate.

This leadership-focused edition is full of research and practical insights on how to become a more effective leader, implement strategy more successfully, maximise your social impact, and embrace the benefits of a more entrepreneurial mindset.

Core 15 includes articles on:

  • How adaptive leadership can help senior managers and their teams to thrive in challenging times.
  • Five steps to develop your own leadership style.
  • Ways to improve employee engagement, build a more ethical team, and reduce the risk of professional misconduct in your organisation.
  • How leaders can use generative AI more effectively and harness behavioural science to stop staff avoiding the truth.

It also features the stories of two WBS Change Makers – John Hung and Elham Fardad – who have each used their MBA to progress their career and support aspiring leaders who aim to follow in their footsteps.

And our CareersPlus and Employer Relations team reveal how self-leadership can unlock the door to career progression and professional development.

Warren Manger, Editor of Core magazine, said: “A range of complex challenges such as political uncertainty, climate change, and disruptive technology like AI have created a perfect storm that threatens to destabilise many businesses.

“It is vital that leaders have the right skills to guide their organisation through these turbulent times, so they can continue to make a valuable contribution to the economy and society.

"That is why we have dedicated this edition of Core magazine to research and practical insights that will help leaders to thrive in an increasingly unpredictable and rapidly changing world.”

Warwick Business School is one of the world's leading business schools, helping to educate and empower the next generation of business leaders. The Financial Times and QS both rank the WBS Global Online MBA in the top three in the world.

The Financial Times recently ranked Warwick's open Executive Education programmes 19th in the world, while QS ranked the WBS Executive MBA in the top 10 globally.

The innovative LeadershipPlus module on our Full-time MBA programme was shortlisted for a prestigious Academic Employability Award in 2025.

WBS was also the first UK business school to earn an Athena Swan Gold Award for gender equality and offers a fully funded Foundation Year to help students from deprived backgrounds to access higher education. 

Andy Lockett, Dean of Warwick Business School and Professor of Strategy & Entrepreneurship, said: “The organisational theorist Philip Selznick argued that leaders are not just managers, they are the custodians of an organisation’s core values and its sense of purpose.

“Those values should act as an anchor in turbulent times such as these. Executives who abandon their values and change direction like a weather vane in response to political bluster risk being blown off course.

“At Warwick Business School, we remain committed to our mission of conducting research and teaching that improves business and society.

"As part of that commitment, our admissions team are exploring how we can support international students who have been affected by Trump’s attack on US universities.”

Further reading:

Core 14: EDI-focused edition of WBS Core magazine out now

 

Read or download Core 15 for more research and practical advice on leading in turbulent times.