Impactful Five (i5) Playbook

In today’s globalized world, organizational leaders increasingly recognize that success requires looking beyond immediate rewards and profits (Laasch et al., 2020; Morsing, 2021; Pless & Maak, 2011; Teehankee, 2008). For example, during the recent pandemic, executives in many sectors myopically moved to cut losses and failed to prioritize employee health and well-being (Robinson, 2021). As a result, those organizations lost trust and legitimacy with a variety of their stakeholders. These organizations and their communities continue to reel from mass resignations, job vacancies and service disruptions. Moreover, studies suggest that companies that fail to recognize their social and ecological impacts risk marginalizing customers, alienating investors and eventual collapse (United Nations, 2021). An organization’s ignorance or abdication of its societal role creates far-reaching and long-lasting damage (Marques & Gomes, 2019). Leaders who fail to understand their responsibilities to better society do so at their and the planet’s peril.