Abstract
Responsible business leaders are undeniably one of the most important catalysts in creating a sustainable world. In the wake of a global pandemic, economic crises, rising inequalities, and environmental disasters, it has become increasingly clear that leaders with holistic skill sets are desperately needed to fill the sustainability skills gap in the workforce. Traditional business and management education prioritized an instrumental and cognitive approach but failed to educate managers in sustainability skills. Based on an extensive theoretical review, this study shows that the development of a holistic skill set for business school students is urgently needed to institutionalize a systemic impact on leadership education and to develop the next generation of responsible business leaders. The paper provides the introduction and analysis of an impactful pedagogical approach–the Impactful-five (i5) Pedagogy–based on social, meaningful, joyful, iterative, and actively engaging business school students in holistic skill set development. Finally, the paper suggests how impactful pedagogy can be applied throughout the educational environment in higher education institutions (HEIs). The developments set a needed global agenda for prioritizing pedagogical approaches to educate leaders and bringing systematic transformation to responsible management education (RME).