How CEOs Can Navigate These Politically Charged Times

In this volatile election year, hot-button issues, from immigration to reproductive rights, are dominating the headlines. What’s a business leader to do? Taking sides in today’s polarized environment risks alienating customers and other stakeholders. Staying quiet can make you look uncaring and out of touch. Carving out a middle ground can end up pleasing no one.

Increasingly, MBA programs realize they have a key role to play in preparing future leaders for such challenges. Experts in corporate leadership and social impact say B-schools can go much further than they traditionally have. “These topics should be factored into more of the curriculum, because they’re becoming a reality of how every executive needs to think,” says Alison Taylor, clinical associate professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business and author of Higher Ground: How Business Can Do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World.