Leadership in the Age of Outrage: Lessons from Karthik Ramanna

In an era marked by tensions created by social and political divides, business leaders face unprecedented challenges as they strive to balance their organizational mission with the demands of a fractured public. Many critical decisions they make can provoke strong support or fierce opposition. At a recent event at Stanford Graduate School of Business (GSB) hosted by the Corporations and Society Initiative (CASI), Karthik Ramanna shared insights from his new book, The Age of Outrage: How to Lead in a Polarized World.

Moderated by CASI leader Jack Shumway (MBA ’25), the event explored real-world examples and practical lessons on how to thoughtfully approach controversial challenges.

Ramanna is a former Harvard Business School professor and current faculty member at Oxford University’s Blavatnik School of Government. He began the discussion by reflecting on his transition from Harvard, famously regarded as the “West Point of capitalism,” to Oxford, where he led a Master of Public Policy program that includes students from over 70 countries.

“You couldn’t hold any truths to be self-evident,” Ramanna remarked, recalling the challenges of leading in such a diverse environment. Yet, he noted, it was also “a tremendous learning opportunity.”

Ramanna explained how his experiences at Oxford inspired him to design a course on leading in polarized times. Inviting leaders from around the globe, he encouraged students to collaboratively explore real-world challenges with no easy answers. These conversations laid the groundwork for The Age of Outrage.

He emphasized that the book doesn’t promote specific viewpoints but instead offers strategic frameworks to help leaders navigate through controversies and reduce conflict.

“Managing in the age of outrage is not about managing outrage itself,” Ramanna stated. Rather than mere crisis management, he advocated for a “fire-prevention” approach, where leaders consider the broader mission of their organization, and the personal stakes involved for their constituents.

Ramanna’s four-part framework, grounded in behavioral science, begins with the concept of turning down the temperature—encouraging leaders to first manage their own reactions before addressing the emotions of others. “There's a tendency of managers to see everybody else as outraged and themselves as somehow above it all,” he said. “But we're all human, and we're all likely to be prone to aggression, so let's start with ourselves.”

He further underscored the importance of surrounding oneself with diverse, trusted advisors. Leaders often build echo chambers by surrounding themselves with those who reinforce, rather than challenge, their perspectives. Drawing on his experiences at Oxford, he explained that genuine learning and trust occur when leaders engage with individuals from varied backgrounds, enabling them to better understand different viewpoints.

Ramanna’s framework also involves building communities that promote dialogue among stakeholders.  This helps reveal what issues need to be addressed and creates trust by giving leaders greater opportunities to confront controversies with empathy, foresight, and adaptability.

Ramanna highlighted two guiding principles from his book for managing politically charged environments: leaders must acknowledge that they cannot satisfy every demand, and they should avoid viewing themselves as the solution to all problems.

“Don’t expect to be liked, even if you’re doing the right thing. The world is deeply polarized,” he cautioned, noting that realistic expectations are key to navigating complex societal issues.

He illustrated these principles with the case of Meghana Pandit, Chief Medical Officer (now CEO) at Oxford University Hospitals. Pandit entered her role during a challenging period for the hospital, tasked with improving safety and addressing “never events” like surgical errors. To foster accountability, she introduced daily safety huddles, a shift in culture aimed at bridging communication gaps between surgeons and nurses. This approach reduced critical incidents and improved staff morale, though it required persistence in a skeptical environment.

Pandit’s leadership was further tested during the COVID-19 pandemic when Prime Minister Boris Johnson mandated that all elective surgeries continue, sparking resistance among some surgeons. Rather than imposing her authority, Pandit empowered the surgeons to make the decision, framing their choice as influential for the broader medical community.

“It's an enormous gamble that she's taking. But in this particular case, it paid off,” he said.

The surgeons’ decision to move forward with elective surgeries reinforced the cultural change Pandit had implemented, promoting shared responsibility and resilience during the crisis. Her example underscored Ramanna’s view that leaders should foster sustainable systems rather than relying on hierarchical control, particularly in moments of extreme stress. This method, he argued, allows organizations to align values and actions, which is increasingly necessary in today’s polarized world.

Using Disney as an example, Ramanna explained how a company's culture can clash with top-down decisions in crises. He noted that Disney, unlike companies such as Exxon, is deeply woven into cultural and political narratives because its content shapes societal views. When Florida Governor Ron DeSantis introduced the “Don’t Say Gay” bill in early 2022, Disney initially tried to avoid political confrontation, creating backlash due to its established progressive image. Disney CEO Bob Chapek's muted response also sparked internal criticism at Disney.

“That gets the CEO into tremendous amounts of trouble because, you've sort of set expectations that you're going to be LGBT-progressive. You've promised that implicitly to your customers. You've promised that implicitly to your creative talent and to your employees. And eventually, [Chapek] ends up losing his job.”

Ramanna shared insights for employees whose personal or organizational values may clash with those of their organizations. Leadership, he argued, is not confined to positions of authority, and anyone can lead by aligning others around shared goals.

Central to this approach is the concept of using power constructively. Ramanna illustrated this with the story of René Brülhart, a Swiss banker-lawyer who was appointed to reform the Vatican Bank during a turbulent period.

“René was the first layperson in recent history in the Vatican to be given a direct reporting line to the Pope,” Ramanna explained. “Part of his claim to fame was that he had helped bring Liechtenstein back into the international banking system. That was why he was brought in. He's Catholic, but he has no sort of clerical basis.”

Lacking formal authority in the Vatican’s hierarchy, Brülhart used transparency and press accountability to drive change, showcasing how employees can have positive impact by aligning with and promoting good organizational values, even within rigid hierarchies. This case underscored Ramanna’s message: employees can create positive impact by understanding how to align their efforts with the organization’s broader mission, even in challenging environments.

During the audience Q&A, a former Meta employee said he witnessed how polarization affected his team during the 2020 election. He asked about the best strategies to foster an anti-fragile culture. Ramanna’s response stressed the importance of resilience on both personal and organizational levels, referencing the concept of relational contracts introduced by Rebecca Henderson and Robert Gibbons. These contracts emphasize a culture that combines delegation, training in judgment, and tolerance for failure.

“There are organizations that delegate, but often they fail to train people how to use that delegation wisely. Even if they do those two things, when things do go wrong, they punish people for making mistakes. All three of those elements are necessary to build resilience. Organizations that have done this well are able to handle crises because they have many people ready to address problems.”

In closing, Ramanna shared a lesson can be learned by considering how Presidents Eisenhower and Kennedy practiced leadership: delegate simpler issues and reserve the toughest ones for higher levels. This, he suggested, is a reminder for leaders to trust their teams, and facilitate resilience by decentralizing decision-making.