Abstract

The complexity and prevalence of the challenges that potentially undermine national and international security, such as demographic shocks, the increase in terrorism and transnational crime, maritime piracy, cyber threats, regional conflicts, and resource disputes have forced teams, organizations, and states to take a broader look at leadership. Thus, although most definitions of leadership acknowledge that leaders are responsible for the leadership process, we should not assume that this role is fixed and predetermined—it can be contingent because events can be highly unpredictable and volatile. Furthermore, formal leaders do not act alone but interact with all those around them. The influence process is not unidirectional: quite the contrary; followers play a decisive role in influencing both leaders and outcomes. This leadership profile is unaffected by reductionism and is essentially integrated, collective, and participatory, providing an argument for rescuing a social identity that feels effectively rewarded for participating in truly democratic actions in a world of falsehood, responding to the lack of a sense of true social participation with popular, concrete proposals that can be shared with leaders to generate public policies and change procedures. Sustainable leadership is presented as a way to provide this solution.