Introduction The global economic recession, which began in 2007, emphasized the importance of leadership in modern organizations. Such scholar as Warren Bennis argues that these challenges can force educators and managers to reconsider their understanding of leadership if they want to better respond to various challenges (2007, p. 1). These individuals will have to change their attitude toward communication, decision-making, and structure of their organizations. There are numerous definitions of this concept; overall, it can be understood as the ability to influence and inspire other people and make them committed to ones ideas and strategies (Northouse 2009, p. 5). Many researchers such as Penny Tamkin and Stephen Overell believe that post-recession leaders will have to meet much higher standards in order to sustain their companies during this recession (2009, p. 1). Furthermore, special attention should be paid to negotiation strategies since they are an integral element of leadership and have to reflect the interest of an entire organization. This paper is aimed at analyzing the impacts of economic recession on leadership theory and practice. In particular, it is necessary to single out those aspects of leadership and negotiations practices which become important during this crisis. Economic crisis and its impact on leadership Overall, the ongoing economic recession prompted many people to reconsider modern definition of leadership and leaders. Many corporate executives as well as educators understood this term as the exercise of power and authority within hierarchical structure of the organization (Tamkin & Overell 2009, p. 8). Yet, this strictly functional interpretation of this concept overlooks the responsibilities of leaders and their roles. The fallacy of this definition has been eloquently illustrated by numerous corporate scandals which broke out during the recession. It has become apparent that many corporate executives failed to take into account the interest of different stakeholders, especially investors, customers, and employees. This crisis showed that some foundational principles of should be reevaluated. This is one of the reasons why a group of scholars under the guidance of Craig Perrin suggested a new model for evaluating the work of leaders. Their framework singles out several aspects or “zones” of leadership, namely 1) people; 2) society; 3) business; 4) reflection, and 5) ingenuity (Perrin et al, n.d. p.6). There are several peculiarities of this model. First of all, it expands the range of a leader’s responsibility. This person has to be accountable to shareholders, employees, and community. This responsibility and accountability were often overlooked by corporate executives before the recession. The second principle is that he/she should be aware about the incompleteness of his/her knowledge (Perrin et al, n.d. p.8). Although this recommendation may appear to be self-evident, it is particularly relevant in the light of economic crisis which was largely caused by irresponsible managerial policies and complete confidences in ones knowledge and decision-making skills. Additionally, this zonal approach to leadership attaches great importance to ingenuity and innovation. According to Perrin et