Stanford Leadership Institute Launch Redefines Leadership

Name: Stanford Leadership Forum 2026: Opening
Uploaded: 2026-05-02T03:57:00+00:00
Duration: 8 min 2 s
Channel: Stanford Graduate School of Business
Description: Summary and key takeaways on Stanford Leadership Forum 2026: Opening: Summary & Key Takeaways, covering Redefining Leadership Leadership now demands a deep

Stanford Graduate School of Business

May 02, 2026

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8 min video

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1 min read

YouTube video ID: CcTui5xsUQg

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Leadership now demands a deep grasp of contextual forces such as science, technology, artificial intelligence, sustainability, and geopolitical tensions. Leaders must form a principled view of their role and the responsibilities of their organizations within society. Rather than merely reacting, leaders exercise agency to shape how external forces affect both their organizations and the broader community.

Stanford Leadership Institute (SLI)

The Stanford Leadership Institute launches as an interdisciplinary hub that connects the Graduate School of Business with the wider university. Its mission is to prepare leaders with insights and strategies to navigate and shape the world, improving how business is conducted and how society is governed. Over the past five years, the predecessor Business, Government, and Society Initiative funded more than 100 research projects involving over 60 faculty members. The new institute expands that effort, offering programs such as the “Insights and Bites” series and conferences on sustainability and technology.

Pedagogical and Research Approach

The institute integrates scholarly knowledge with deep practical experience, encouraging engagement with diverse and opposing viewpoints. Ongoing community dialogue and cross‑sector collaboration are central, because “often those are the most valuable sorts of interactions to have are with people who have a different perspective from our own.” Faculty leaders like Ken Shotz, the Velez‑Reyes Director, and donors such as Andreas and Diane Halverson support this interdisciplinary mission.

Institutional Vision

The launch signals a shift from viewing the Graduate School of Business merely as a business school to seeing it, in some sense, as a school of leadership. By bridging research and practice, the institute aims to influence how leaders address rapid change and complex societal forces, ensuring that leadership is both responsive and proactive in shaping the future.

Takeaways

Leadership now requires understanding complex forces like AI, sustainability, and geopolitics, and the ability to shape their impact on organizations and society.
The Stanford Leadership Institute serves as an interdisciplinary hub linking the Graduate School of Business with the broader university to improve business and governance.
Over 100 research projects funded by more than 60 faculty members laid the groundwork for the institute's launch after five years of development.
Programs such as "Insights and Bites" and sustainability conferences embed practical experience with scholarly insight, fostering cross‑sector collaboration.
The institute’s mission emphasizes agency, encouraging leaders to proactively influence external forces rather than merely reacting to them.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Stanford Leadership Institute plan to bridge academic research with practical leadership?

The institute creates an interdisciplinary hub that combines scholarly research with real‑world experience, offering series like "Insights and Bites" and convening conferences that bring together faculty, practitioners, and diverse viewpoints to translate insights into actionable leadership strategies.

What role does agency play in the new definition of leadership presented at the launch?

Agency is framed as the capacity of leaders to shape how external forces such as technology and geopolitics affect their organizations and society, moving beyond reactive responses to proactive influence that aligns organizational actions with broader societal responsibilities.

Who is Stanford Graduate School of Business on YouTube?

Stanford Graduate School of Business is a YouTube channel that publishes videos on a range of topics. Browse more summaries from this channel below.

Does this page include the full transcript of the video?

Yes, the full transcript for this video is available on this page. Click 'Show transcript' in the sidebar to read it.

Helpful resources related to this video

If you want to practice or explore the concepts discussed in the video, these commonly used tools may help.

Books On Leadership And Organizational Strategy Recommended

Provides foundational knowledge on leadership theory and management, supporting the institute's mission to bridge academic research with practical application.

Amazon →

Hardcover Notebook For Professional Development Notes

A high-quality notebook helps leaders document insights, strategies, and reflections during interdisciplinary discussions and conferences.

Amazon →

Books On Artificial Intelligence And Society

Offers context on the technological forces mentioned in the brief, helping leaders understand the intersection of AI and governance.

Amazon →

Books On Sustainability And Corporate Responsibility

Provides essential reading on the sustainability challenges that the institute aims to address through its research and programming.

Amazon →

Links may be affiliate links. We only include resources that are genuinely relevant to the topic.

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Full Transcript YouTube

It's my pleasure to introduce our first
speaker. Ken Shotz is the David S and
Anne M Barlo Professor of Political
Economy at the Stanford Graduate School
of Business. He also teaches the core
class leading with values. His research
interests include electoral
accountability and policy
entrepreneurship. And starting today, he
is the new Velez-Reyes Director of the
Stanford Leadership Institute. Please
join me in welcoming Ken Shotz.
>> [applause]
>> Thank you, Varia.
So, hello and welcome to the Stanford
Leadership Forum.
So, we're here at the Stanford Graduate
School of Business. It's called the
Graduate School of Business, but in some
sense it's actually a school of
leadership.
And so is the rest of Stanford
University, a place where we educate and
build leaders for the future.
When I say the word leadership, I think
for many people what comes to mind is
one's personal style, one's character,
how one runs or leads things within an
organization.
And those are obviously crucially
important components of leadership.
But for people who take the mantle of
leadership and are in charge of big
companies, governments, and other
organizations, leadership goes beyond
that.
And that's because we are at a time of
rapid change. And there are many
complicated contextual forces that
impact firms and other organizations.
This includes changes in science and
technology, including AI. It includes
questions about sustainability and
resource demands. It includes volatile
markets, domestic political tensions,
geopolitical tensions, and cultural
shifts within countries.
So, how do we go about preparing leaders
at a time like this and at a place like
Stanford University?
Well, we're university, so we're
obviously big believers in scholarly
knowledge. I mean, that's a big part of
a university, right? But we are also big
believers in the importance of having
people involved with deep practical
experience actually acting as leaders.
We also want to be a place where people
throughout the community jump in and
engage on important issues and
challenges that society faces. And
that's not just because those issues and
challenges are interesting and
complicated and important, it's also
because those things are crucial for
leadership as leadership.
So, we need leaders who have a deep
understanding of these contextual forces
in society and the world. And we also
need leaders who have a principled view
that they had developed on their own and
thought through about their role and the
role of their company or organization in
society. What are its responsibilities?
What things are not its
responsibilities? What are the
responsibilities of other actors in
society, including governments? The
reason for this is leaders are not just
people who react to external forces in
society. They also have agency to shape
how those forces impact their
organizations and all of us in society.
Now, to develop this knowledge and
principled sense of values requires
hearing from, engaging with, and
learning from a lot of different people,
including people we disagree with. Often
those are the most valuable sorts of
interactions to have are with people who
have a different perspective from our
own. When we do that, we are better
positioned as leaders and as a society
to make the sort of decisions and build
the sorts of institutions that we need
to face the challenges ahead.
So, that is why today I am delighted to
announce the official launch of the
Stanford Leadership Institute.
The mission of the institute is to
prepare leaders with insights and
strategies to navigate and shape our
world, improving how we do business and
I govern our society. To do this, we're
establishing an interdisciplinary hub
for innovative research, teaching, and
convening. We're bringing together
expertise from Stanford and beyond to
address the critical issues of our time
and to inspire leaders to make a
positive impact in their organizations
and the world.
So, we've been building towards this day
for about 5 years now. The institute
extends and expands the Business,
Government, and Society Initiative at
the GSB to create an institute that
serves all of Stanford University.
The initiative has already funded over
100 research projects by over 60
different faculty members. We've
introduced a bunch of things in the
classroom, including an Insights and
Bites program where faculty come in and
share their cutting-edge research on
current issues of the day with students
who want to learn from the faculty. We
also have hosted a bunch of events and
convenings, including over 40
conferences on sustainability, a whole
bunch of events on technology and AI,
including one you may have heard about
last week with Jensen Wong and Ro
Khanna. Um, so that was actually a
Leadership Institute thing. And of
course, the Stanford Leadership Forum
here today.
The institute is based at the GSB and is
going to take the GSB's knowledge and
extend it out to a broader set of
audiences. But it is also going to
infuse stuff that goes on within the
business school with fresh insights from
others outside of the school and outside
of the university. So, it will improve
the school and our depth of knowledge as
well.
And I should also say since this is
Stanford and everything at Stanford
needs an acronym or a nickname, right?
You think "Colab, C for blah blah blah
blah blah, CASPR." There's all sorts of
acronyms around Stanford. So, we need to
be very clear about what the right
acronym is here. So, the acronym for
this thing is SLI for short or the
Stanford Leadership Institute.
So, it's not SLE, right? SLE is a
program for undergrads. So, so it's
something else completely different.
Anyway, um,
reaching this day has been a team effort
across the GSB and with colleagues
around the university. And I really
appreciate the effort that many people
have put into this.
I also want to take a moment to
acknowledge the many donors for the
Leadership Institute who are in the room
today. In particular, I want to thank
the foundational donors, Andreas and
Diane Halverson. Your vision for the
importance of leadership and the unique
opportunity for Stanford to shape our
future has made this institute possible.
So, thank you.
So, today we're kicking off the
institute with the Leadership Forum
today. We're going to have sessions on a
whole bunch of different topics. I'm
guessing that each of you have
particular sessions that you're really
excited to get to. You probably don't
want to hear me talk too much longer, so
I'm not going to talk too much longer.
But I do want to note that this forum is
not just about the conversations
happening on the stage. It is also about
fostering conversations amongst everyone
who is participating here, both today
and into the evening and into the weeks
and months and years to come because
that is what makes us it possible for us
to be better leaders as we act and
practice based on what we have learned.
So, to get on today's day's first
session, it is my pleasure to introduce
our first conversation with Dean Sarah
Soule and former UK Prime Minister Rishi
Sunak.

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Stanford Leadership Forum 2026: Environmental Sustainability, Real Progress Beyond the Hype

Stanford Graduate School of Business

May 06, 2026

Stanford Leadership Institute (SLI)

Pedagogical and Research Approach

Institutional Vision

Takeaways

Frequently Asked Questions

How does the Stanford Leadership Institute plan to bridge academic research with practical leadership?

What role does agency play in the new definition of leadership presented at the launch?

Who is Stanford Graduate School of Business on YouTube?

Does this page include the full transcript of the video?

Helpful resources related to this video

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