Why Business Leaders Need Political Diplomacy Skills Now

Turn breakthrough ideas into real results at the virtual HBR Innovation Summit this November with top CEOs and masterclasses on AI and growth. Register by September 30th and save 25%. Learn more at hbr.org slash innovation summit. I'm Allison Beard. And I'm Adi Ignatius, and this is the HPR Idea Cast.

Adi, there's a lot of fear and anxiety among corporate leaders right now over changing geopolitical dynamics and ecosystems. economic policies, particularly when it comes to trade and immigration. We see lots of opinions about how much it's going to affect different types of businesses and what executives should be doing about it. So today we're going to talk to a researcher who has lived all over the world and studied these issues and believes that the best way to navigate is with what she calls corporate deployment. Diplomacy.

I like that. You know, we've written pieces in the past about how every company needs a foreign policy. And, you know, with all the uncertainty around trade, around supply chains, the market for talent, various policies, this level of uncertainty is making it tougher to lead. So if you've got somebody who understands this, who can identify high-level trends and tell us what to do about it, I am all ears. Our guest today is Shrividya Jantyala, an associate professor at

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