Sustainable leaders can be grown…Blueprint for sustainable leadership…
Sustainable Mindset : Multilevel Systems Thinking, Stakeholder Inclusion, Disruptive Innovation, Long Term Activation
3. 3
A turning point for business
Across the West, capitalism is not
working as well as it should. Jobs
are plentiful, but growth is
sluggish, inequality is too high,
and the environment is suffering.
Who, then, is going to ride to the
rescue? A growing number of
people think the answer is to call
on big business to help fix
economic and social problems.
- The Economist
4. 4
Businesses are struggling
to rise to the occasion
believe integration
critical to business
success
believe business is
currently playing a
critical role
actually
integrating in
their operations
92%
48% 21%
Source: United Nations Global Compact / Accenture.
5. 5
Not embedded in leadership culture or expectations
4% of role specifications demand
sustainability experience or mindsets
15% of role specifications
refer to sustainability
6. 6
How can organizations make sustainability
core to the DNA of their leadership teams?
CEO and Board Member sustainability pioneers55
37%
63%
FEMALE
MALE
GENDER REGION
56%
29%
13%
3%
INDUSTRY
53%
19%
11%
8%
6%3%
EMEA
NORTH AMERICA
APAC
LATIN AMERICA
INDUSTRIAL
CONSUMER
FINANCIAL SERVICES
TECHNOLOGY
PROFESSIONAL SERVICES
HEALTHCARE
8. 8
A blueprint for sustainable leadership
MULTI-LEVEL
SYSTEMS
THINKING
STAKEHOLDER
INCLUSION
LONG-TERM
ACTIVATION
DISRUPTIVE
INNOVATION
SUSTAINABLE
MINDSET
9. 9
Sustainable Mindset
Mads Nipper, CEO of Grundfos
I am 100 per cent convinced that the
companies that don’t take a full
stakeholder approach—creating value
for all stakeholders, not just
shareholders—won’t be competitive
and won’t exist. The CEOs who don’t
take their companies on a more
sustainable path aren’t living up to their
professional obligations.
• A purpose-driven belief.
• Recognize that business is
intrinsically linked to its wider
societal and environmental context.
• Believe value is created by delivering
across commercial, societal and
environmental outcomes.
10. 10
Mads Nipper
CEO, Grundfos
Multi-Level Systems
Thinking
▪ Realize that systemic challenges
cannot be solved by any one
company alone.
▪ Harness the organization’s interplay
with larger economic, societal and
environmental systems.
As Covid-19 disrupted supply chains,
Grundfos moved to leverage its untapped
cash reserves to pay suppliers on an earlier
schedule than previously agreed.
11. 11
Denise Morrison
Independent Director, Visa;
Former CEO, Campbell’s Soup Company
Stakeholder Inclusion
▪ Seek to understand a wide range of
viewpoints – from employees,
customers, governments, investors
and local communities.
▪ Make decisions with all stakeholders
in mind.
▪ Create partnerships that increase
the impact of their organization.
To develop Campbell’s sustainability
strategy, Denise Morrison solicited input
from a wide range of customers, suppliers
and other stakeholders.
12. 12
Farzanah Chowdhury
CEO, Green Delta Insurance
Disruptive Innovation
▪ Recognize that real progress requires
exponential change and business
model innovation.
▪ Challenge traditional approaches
and confidently steer into the
unknown.
▪ Make bold investments that test the
limits of what is possible.
Developed Nibedita, an insurance app that
empowers women in Bangladesh to make
purchasing decisions without the
involvement of their family.
13. 13
Ilham Kadri
CEO and Chair of the Executive
Committee, Solvay
Long-term Activation
▪ Set audacious goals and rigorously
drive concerned action.
▪ Stay the course in the face of
setbacks.
▪ Make decisions that may be
unpopular with short-term
orientated stakeholders.
Solvay’s One Planet program aims to
increase the company’s proportion of
sustainable products and targets a 26%
reduction in greenhouse gases by 2030.
