The challenge of being a Responsible and Trustworthy Leader through prolonged crisis. Few in the business world predicted the COVID pandemic and leaders found themselves thrown into unprecedented uncertainty and anxiety. Professor Veronica Hope Hailey, from the University of Bath, interviewed 44 senior leaders from 20 major employers from June to August 2020 about their experiences. She subsequently published a report which tells the stories of these senior executives in the early stages of COVID. It describes how they found a way of “leading in a fog” whilst trying to maintain their responsibility to society, their customers, their employees and shareholders. In so doing, many revealed an empathetic and human style of leadership which had been hidden until this time. In this recording of a live online talk, Veronica shares her thoughts about the continuing and exacting challenges for CEOs and others in the year ahead.