Moving Forward from the Sins of the Past: Navigating the Bumpy Road to Institutional Redemption

How can leaders navigate the bumpy road to redemption for the past sins of an institution and/or its leaders? To illuminate the commonalities and complexities that emerge when leaders seek institutional redemption, we critically analyze three cases—the Volkswagen emissions scandal, Germany; Georgetown University's sale of 272 enslaved people, United States; and the residential school system, Canada. In doing so, we showcase how seeking institutional (vs. personal) redemption can involve distinct complexities. By synthesizing these emergent insights using a self-in-systems approach, we outline how traveling the road to institutional redemption requires leaders to effectively manage considerations related to multiple systems in ways that allow them to manage accountability for the institution while maintaining their own legitimacy (and avoiding being morally tarnished by the institutional transgression). We conclude by exploring redemption as an intentional change process that promotes “resolve” and opportunities for moral transformations that can benefit individuals, institutions, and society.