Leading across boundaries: The arena

This article is one in an ongoing series exploring how leaders can engage and inspire across the boundaries that divide us.

Jeremy C. Hanson

July 25, 2025

2m to read

Leading across boundaries and divides

We are exploring how leaders of all kinds of organizations are leading across boundaries and divides. We describe how our own firm’s thinking has evolved over time in this insight.

Read our most recent insights on how CEOs and board members are approaching the topic. We will be thinking and writing much more about this in the coming months.

When I was young, two great contests gripped the world: Muhammad Ali vs. Joe Frazier in the “Thrilla in Manila,” and Bobby Fischer vs. Boris Spassky across the chessboard. These weren’t just competitions—they were global events. Lines were drawn. Money was bet. Loyalties ran deep. Everyone had a favorite and wanted their champion to win. The fight was brutal. The chess match, hypnotic. And in the end, there were winners and losers, and most of us accepted it.

But underneath the heat of those rivalries were institutions—however imperfect—that built the arena for the contest. They laid out the rules, enforced them, and helped us absorb the outcome, even when it stung. These systems didn’t eliminate conflict—they civilized it. They gave us a way to compete fiercely, to lose with dignity, and to come back tomorrow for another round.

We often forget this in today’s environment. We focus on the clashes—who's up, who's down, who's “right.” But progress doesn’t come from momentary victories. It comes from having a credible stage to engage, compete, decide, and move forward. Creating those stages is what leaders do. It’s not about erasing differences—they’re always there. It’s about creating the arena where those differences can be expressed, challenged, and channeled toward something better.

Yes, Ali and Frazier traded victories. Yes, Fischer had his moment, and Spassky remained a legend. These were not just battles between individuals. They were tests of systems—of the frameworks that made high-stakes conflict possible without collapse. We are not trapped in tribes. We are bound by something deeper than which “side” we’re on. We’re bound by our shared stake in the arena itself. The rules, the process, the trust that—even when we disagree—we’ll keep showing up. We don't retreat. In our divided world, leadership is less about who wins and more about how we play, how we decide, and how we move forward—together.

About the author

Jeremy Hanson (jhanson@heidrick.com) is a partner in Heidrick & Struggles' Chicago office and a member of the global CEO & Board of Directors Practice.