Beyond VUCA: Lessons, challenges for today’s business leaders

The Management Association of the Philippines (MAP) held its annual Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Conference recently, with the theme, “Leading amidst  invisible  disruptions: Agility and Resilience in a Multipolar Era.” The timing could not have been more apt. Outside the halls of the gathering, ghost projects and flooding were trending across social media, Indonesia and Nepal were burning in protest, and a litany of geopolitical stories unfolded too fast to follow. The signs are all around us: power is dispersing, disruptions rise exponentially through technology and old structures crack open and fall away. We are all navigating in limbo, moving without a map.

Under the steady guidance of MAP Conference chair Alma Jimenez, the day’s sessions became a carefully curated journey. Each topic was meant to equip leaders with foresight, resilience and adaptability — not simply to survive the present moment but to learn how to thrive in it. The challenge before us all was clear: we must embrace exponential thinking and cultivate the courage to lead through uncertainty.

We live inside what is now called a VUCA world — volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. This word, once coined by the military, now describes the very texture of our lives and businesses. Markets swing without warning, technologies upend entire industries overnight and information overload clouds clarity rather than brings it. To lead in VUCA is to accept that the ground beneath our feet is always shifting.

I cannot help but see how these disruptions mirror something deeper — planetary energies that ripple through human affairs. Uranus, the planet of sudden change and disruption, is very much alive in the times we inhabit. It shatters what no longer serves, sometimes brutally, always decisively. It feels as if Humpty Dumpty has had a great fall and all the pieces of institutions, governments and once-solid systems now lie scattered. In this limbo of fragments, the urgent question arises: where do we go and what do we do?

The MAP conference offered some directions. One was the recognition that we are now living in a multipolar world. Unlike previous decades, no single power or economy can dictate the flow of trade or culture. Influence is dispersed among multiple centers, each rising, colliding and reshaping global currents. For business leaders, this means that linear strategies no longer apply. The call is to develop a risk agenda that accounts for unseen forces — political instability, environmental threats, technological upheavals, social unrest. These invisible disruptions are no longer background noise; they are the terrain itself.

Another theme was the reinvention of business models in the age of Value in Motion. What people value — products, services, experiences and ethics — shifts with breathtaking speed. Strategies can no longer be carved in stone. Instead, businesses must become dynamic, fluid and agile, reinventing themselves continuously in response to consumer priorities and cultural changes. Reinvention is no longer an option to be visited every few years; it is the daily discipline of survival.

One of the most engaging sessions for me was on intergenerational leadership. Boomers, Millennials and Gen Z sat in a panel conversation, sharing how each generation sees the world. Boomers bring depth and experience, Millennials a drive for purpose and tech fluency and Gen Z a fearless authenticity who advocate for sustainable changes in our world. These differences are not divides but potential bridges. It is the work of CEO/leaders to weave these generational energies together into collaboration within their companies and organizations. 

Equally compelling was the conversation on the merging of authentic and synthetic workforces. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept — it is already a collaborator in our daily lives and industries. The task for leaders is to discover how human intuition, empathy and creativity can partner with the scale, precision and efficiency of AI. This is not a question of replacement but of synergy. The authentic and synthetic must complement one another so that technology enhances rather than diminishes humanity. What was very clear to me though, was that we must retain our strategic ideas, creative thoughts and not get them from AI! 

Lessons from Charo Santos-Concio

The conference closed on a high note for me as I was asked to moderate a session with Dr. Charo Santos-Concio, former chief executive officer of ABS-CBN. With grace, wisdom and humility, she spoke of her experiences rooted in the guiding principle that business must serve humanity and be in service of the Filipino. Her talk was so complete that I found myself with no more questions to ask. Instead, we engaged in a dialogue, affirming that in this new landscape, purpose and profit must stand parallel. It is no longer enough to maintain token corporate social responsibility  projects at the margins. That is so old school. Social and environmental responsibility must be embedded in the very core of strategy, measurable, strategic and woven into the DNA of the enterprise.

Charo spoke of the power of silence, the need to ground oneself in values before stepping out to lead. I resonated deeply with this. I have often said that inner change fuels outer change. Visionary leadership is not about titles; it is born of inner rootedness in one’s pagkatao (humanity). Only when a leader lives from this rootedness and then brings business acumen into play can purpose and profit truly balance each other. Then, and only then, can business become a force for good.

As I left the gathering, I reflected on how the day’s conversations wove together. The VUCA world is the backdrop of our lives. Uranus continues to break apart old structures. The multipolar era demands that we navigate unseen forces with agility and foresight. Business models must reinvent themselves continually in response to shifting values. Generational groups must work together, their differences integrated into strength. Human and synthetic workforces must learn collaboration, not competition. Above all, leaders must cultivate inner silence and values to hold purpose and profit together in equal measure.

This is not easy work. We are literally bridging worlds now. Within the shattered pieces around us lies the opportunity to imagine new forms. The order of the moment is visionary leadership — courageous, humble, rooted in service. Leaders who see beyond profit, to see more of humanity and the planet. Leaders who hold silence within even as they move through volatility outside. In the end, leadership today is not about putting Humpty Dumpty back together again. It is about daring to create something new out of the brokenness. And perhaps, just perhaps, to imagine a future that is more resilient, more humane and more purposeful for us all.