Lessons in Strategic Leadership from Vlodymyr Zelensky

In every moment of decision, there’s a High Ground and a Low Ground of the mind and brain. Zelensky occupied both.

By Art Kleiner

Among the many things that the war in Ukraine has put in perspective is the nature of leadership. Many of us are in positions of some authority. We’re managing teams or companies, or creating a new business. Suddenly, we’re called upon to make more difficult decisions than we may have expected. Decisions involving people, or prices, or broken supply chains — or attacks that seem like they could never be resisted.

The stakes are high. The issues are complex. The solutions are not obvious. People use different words to describe the same situations. And there isn’t time to wait until things become clear.

And then there’s a moment of clarity. Like when Volodymyr Zelensky famously said, “I need ammunition, not a ride.”

I choose that example because it is so well-known. It made such a strong impression. But it is not unique. There are many such choices made, by many people from every kind of background, in every type of difficult or stressful situation. Not all of us deal with it as Zelensky did, but many of us do. The factor that makes the difference has a lot to do with neuroscience: specifically, with the existing patterns of…