This paper is a synopsis of six things transformative leaders do to ensure a business survives and progressively advances towards its long-term goals amid the volatile, unstable, complex and ambiguous environmental conditions of the 21st century. The author draws this synopsis from previous research reviewing, 1) scholarly published papers, academic literature and empirical studies accessed through online scholarly search engines and knowledge bases, dated 2010 onwards, documenting and offering theoretical, conceptual and philosophical frameworks on the emergence of transformative leadership to help leaders profitably navigate the challenges of a chaotic, crisis ridden world, and 2) analysis of published case study data on African CEOs celebrated for successfully turning around failing businesses and posting outstanding outcomes in depressed local economic conditions. The paper suggests that business survival calls for higher skill sets than simply outsmarting the competition, keeping up with evolving customers or managing the bottom- line. Rather, transformative leaders facilitate irreversible transcendent change to ensure business survival, sustainability and long-term success. While conventional theory suggests that apex leaders should take direct control of business operations, transformative leaders install a vibrant business culture where leadership responsibility is shared with empowered followers. They keep the business abreast of the evolving economic environment by maintaining a profitable, responsive and creative tension between the business readiness to change and the impact of external forces altering the environmental landscape. In this paper the researcher uses classic, contemporary and current leadership theory to anchor its findings.
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