The Albert Luthuli Centre for Responsible Leadership invited papers related to responsible leadership from a trans-disciplinary perspective involving the social and natural sciences. Subsequent to a lengthy review process, fifteen authors were invited to present at the the 3rd International Conference on Responsible Leadership; from these, five papers were finally selected to appear in this Special Edition.Management, leadership, and business knowledge by itself cannot ensure a sustainable and equitable future. What is needed is an integration of knowledge about responsible leadership across disciplinary boundaries, ranging from management studies and the physical sciences, to law, the humanities and social science. Only by integrating across current disciplinary boundaries can we find hope for generating what has been termed "earth system governance", a way for humanity to manage the complexities of the world to create a just, equitable, and sustainable world for all.The five papers included in this special edition provide insight into responsible leadership and the importance of interdisciplinary dialogue in an interconnected and complex world. The perspectives converge to give us focused insights on responsible leadership as an emerging discourse, confirming the importance of bridging science, business and politics, and the role that responsible leadership plays in this.