stars insights

stars insights
Effective Corporate Governance: structural innovation, cultural shifts, ethics, adaptability and systemic thinking
4 September 2025

Through our partnership with Developing Leaders Quarterly (DLQ) you regularly receive a selection of free articles from the most recent issue of this booklet series, which provides multiple perspectives from thought and practice leaders around a critical leadership challenge or theme.

This edition is about Corporate Governance – how it must evolve to meet the demands of complexity, digital disruption, and ecosystem-based business models. The central theme: effective governance today requires structural innovation, cultural shifts, and leadership grounded in ethics, adaptability, and systemic thinking.

• Making Governance Possible
  Jonathan Day, CEO of a global network of board directors and policy makers, examines the growing inadequacy of traditional corporate governance frameworks in the face of today’s complex, globalized organizations. Drawing on insights from hundreds of board-level conversations, Day argues that structural reforms are needed across boards, management, investors, and regulators. He highlights the unrealistic expectations placed on directors, legal contradictions, and outdated governance models that fail to reflect real-world dynamics. The article advocates for dynamic board-management relationships, better director support, clearer accountability standards, and deeper director engagement. Reform will be slow, but with mounting governance failures, a critical opportunity for systemic change may emerge.

• Dual Governance: Adapting Corporate Governance for Ecosystem Participation
  In this article Roland Deiser, Chairman of the Drucker School’s Center for the Future of Organization and stars alumnus, introduces the concept of dual governance as a strategic imperative for companies operating in business ecosystems. Traditional corporate governance—built for control, hierarchy, and risk aversion—often clashes with the speed, trust, and openness ecosystems demand. To thrive in networked environments, organizations must create governance architectures that empower cross-functional teams at the edge, streamline decision-making, and bridge internal and external priorities. This includes redefining roles, aligning incentives, cultivating collaborative culture, and building structures that balance corporate accountability with ecosystem agility.
• The Proximity Revolution – A New Three-Sight Playbook for Corporate Governance
  Robert C. Wolcott and Kaihan Krippendorff, co- authors of the book Proximity, argue that the rise of Agentic AI and digitally decentralized business models demands a radical rethinking of corporate governance. As decisions become more distributed, rapid, and personalized, traditional oversight structures are increasingly obsolete. They propose a “Three-Sight” governance framework—Hindsight, Oversight, and Foresight—to help boards navigate this transformation. Drawing lessons from history and cases like Boeing, the article advocates for tech-enabled, real-time governance tools, including AI-driven after-action reviews, always-on risk scanning, and automated foresight systems. Boards must evolve from static overseers to dynamic enablers of agility, accountability, and continuous innovation.

stars Insights
The Circular Economy File
21 August 2025

In our rapidly evolving world, the transition to a circular economy is no longer an option – it has become an urgent global necessity. This is the driving reason behind our global webinar series “The Circular Economy – A Must for Business Leaders”, moderated by Gordana Kierans, Circular Economy Consultant, Managing Director MGT OPEN; Supervisory Board Member, Circle Economy Amsterdam; President, stars South-East Europe Alumni Chapter, Grižane, Croatia.

However, despite listening to different points of view from all our continents, we realised that one continent is facing more challenges that other regions and thus we decided to focus our Circular Files on this diverse, vast, undervalued and breathtakingly beautiful continent. Despite its weight and importance in the mining industry, it accounts for only 5% of global GHG emissions.
The articles offer a glimpse from:

• The African Development Bank
  Dr Al-Hamndou Dorsouma illustrates in his article the challenges of financing the circular economy in Africa.
• A Hole in the Bucket
  An expat. Natalie Beinisch offers her perspective used to a life with less “holes in the bucket”.
• Lighting the World with Waste
  An African entrepreneur. Dozie Igweilo, the CEO of QuadLoop, sat down with Gordana Kierans for her monthly newsletter The Circular Times. QuadLoop produces innovative solar lanterns made almost entirely from secondary materials.

Despite these, and other innovative initiatives, global circularity levels are decreasing, as the latest Circularity Gap Report illustrates.

stars Insights
Care – the authentic interest and compassion for others! A key leadership trait
13 May 2025

Through our partnership with Developing Leaders Quarterly (DLQ) you regularly receive a selection of free articles from the most recent issue of this booklet series, which provides multiple perspectives from thought and practice leaders around a critical leadership challenge or theme.

This time the focus is on Care – the authentic interest and compassion for others – as a key leadership trait. This includes not only the people you are dealing with; it applies to customers, suppliers, other functions, other industries. It is the currency of social networks.

• From Compete and Compare to Collaborate and Care
  In this article, Suzie Lewis – a former senior Airbus executive and now consultant – calls for a leadership transformation—from ego-centric competition to compassionate, collaborative cultures. She emphasizes that organizations are living systems shaped by hidden dynamics and must be intentionally redesigned to foster inclusion, empathy, and systemic awareness. By prioritizing trust, courageous dialogue, and shared accountability, leaders can create environments where people thrive together. Moving beyond individual performance, this shift enables innovation, engagement, and resilience — especially in today’s hybrid and interconnected organizations. Compassion, she argues, is not a soft skill, but a strategic
• Self-Compassion: A Critical Resource for Leadership Success
  Kirstie Drummond Papworth, Head of London Business School’s Experiential Learning Lab, reframes self-compassion as a vital leadership asset, not a weakness. Drawing on neuroscience and psychology, she outlines a three-part framework—mindfulness, common humanity, and self-kindness—that helps leaders manage stress, build resilience, and foster psychological safety. Self-compassion supports emotional regulation, counteracts the harms of self-criticism, and encourages a growth mindset. She addresses common misconceptions and offers practical techniques to embed self-compassion into daily leadership practice—ultimately enhancing both personal wellbeing and organizational effectiveness
• Compassion and Care in Stewarding Organizational Ecologies
  Michelle Holliday, author of The Age of Thrivability challenges traditional, mechanistic views of leadership by framing organizations as living ecologies that require stewardship, not control. She argues that care and compassion must become core strategic practices, enabling systems to regenerate, adapt, and thrive. Drawing from ecological principles, she outlines leadership as a collective, context-sensitive process that supports interconnectedness and shared purpose. Real-world examples show how stewardship fosters resilience, creativity, and deeper meaning. She concludes that embracing this regenerative, life-centered worldview is essential for navigating complexity and addressing today’s societal and environmental challenges.

stars Insights
India’s Rise to Superpower
19 February 2025

India is a rising power, possibly the 3rd largest economy before 2030! But: will India’s complexity and internal divisions slow it down as was the case in the past? No doubt, geopolitical and geoeconomic intelligence is a must for any leader in business and society.

We are pleased to send you five articles from speakers of the latest stars webinars:

• Downcycling: The Hidden Challenge in the Circular Economy Transition by Shalini Goyal BHALLA, Managing Director, International Council for Circular Economy, New Delhi, India
• The Indian century? India’s Prospects in International Affairs by Heribert DIETER, Research Unit Global Issues, German Institute for International and Security Affairs, Berlin, Germany
• India’s Growth Trajectory: A Rising Economic Power by Harald EGGER, Chairman UBS India, Head Group Real Estate and Supply Chain UBS; stars Alumnus, Zurich, Switzerland
• Beyond Nonalignment: India’s New Geopolitics by C Raja MOHAN, Visiting Research Professor, Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS), National University of Singapore; Member, stars Asia Advisory Panel, Singapor
• Democracy in India – Vulnerabilities and Resilience by Jivanta SCHOETTLI, Assistant Professor, Dublin City University; Director, Ireland India Institute; stars Alumna, Dublin, Ireland

Disclaimer: The views expressed here are solely those of the author and they do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of the stars Foundation.