Disability-linked ethical adaptive leadership: a psychobiography of Srikanth Bolla

Purpose The study introduces disability-linked ethical adaptive leadership (D-LEAD) and delineates its conceptual boundaries within prevailing leadership frameworks. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts a developmental psychobiography research method to analyze how the life experiences of Srikanth Bolla’s – a blind chief executive officer from India – influenced his responsible, adaptive, authentic, inclusive and humility leadership styles. Findings The study finds that childhood disability challenges in marginalized settings can nurture qualities such as resilience, humility, authenticity, and inclusiveness that enhance the development of a unique D-LEAD style. Research limitations/implications The proposed model and the resulting leadership style are based on an interpretive subjective psychobiographic process, of which empirical explanation and predictive powers are limited. Future studies should empirically test the model’s reliability and validity. Social implications This study underscores how leaders with disabilities can foster inclusion, equity and collective well-being by combining resilience, empathy and strategic humility. Originality/value This study proposes a new leadership style that is unique to disabled persons named D-LEAD.