Conscious leadership – when leadership makes sense

Programme 15.00 to 19.00

From fine words to concrete actions

The conscious leader is aware of his responsibility – to himself, his organisation and the world. It’s high time that we – as leaders – understand how to apply the influence we have to ensure a sustainable future.

It is not just unethical – it is also bad business not to live up to the 17 UN world goals. The conscious consumer is REALLY on the rise and it is about time you put your company ethics in place or face the consequences of your neglect via the “Greta Effect”.

Many companies and executives live in a bubble. A mental construct that everyone buys into. Shareholders, executives and employees.

They all hold each other in a cultural conviction that they have only one function: To generate as much profit as possible. Therefore, management is basically just about one thing: Maximising profits. Many are caught in the belief that there are only two markers to aim for: Minimising costs and producing more. Growth is cultivated as a God, and everyone just wants more. It’s like listening to the song “The only thing I need is MORE”.

Many executives have lived with profit-blinders on for so long that they may struggle to see how they can now change their management perspective. They suffer from the “Thelma and Louise” syndrome and just continue their unconscious behaviour. It is precisely this misconception that I would like to fight at all costs. What to steer by when you also have to make the world better. The 17 world goals are fine landmarks to aim for. If you, as a company and in your day-to-day management, ensure that all decisions are aligned with them, you are well on your way.

I know it can sound like big words… and it is. But we are all part of the same world, so it is not that difficult either. The world is you, the local community, the company, the country and the globe.

Conscious leadership has two dogmas that are interconnected.

1. Always try to improve the world and
2. Never decide anything that does harm

Long-term sustainability – both environmentally and socially – is the goal. Which also means the company must generate a profit.

It can seem very overwhelming with a whole 17 goals – downright paralysing in fact – so you don’t bother trying to change anything. The recipe is actually quite simple because there is a big difference between which of the 17 goals can be most easily influenced if you work in a dairy, a service office or an oil-drilling platform. Start with the goals you find easiest and that have the most impact.

The focus of the presentation is 3 key topics:

1. From the 5- to 500-year perspective in the strategy
2. This is how you adjust the 17 world goals so that you can join in too
3. 5 inspiring cases from the real business world

The greed is out of control and the EGO-culture has no ethical compass. Just look at Danske Bank’s money laundering case. When you are a customer of such a company and experience something like that, take your business elsewhere and tell them clearly why you are changing.

I have worked with the development of people and organisations for more than 30 years. My work has – until now – been mostly in businesses, and with a particular focus on management because in my experience that was where I was able to do the most good. Management affects many people’s quality of life, the environment and the world on a daily basis. My first book “The Inner Leadership” is about how – as a leader – you can raise the overall consciousness of an organisation. And since then, I have been so privileged to have had the opportunity to teach thousands of leaders in everything from Value-Based Management and Organisational Culture to Innovation and Change Management. It is therefore natural for me to put “The Conscious Leadership” on the agenda. In fact, I already did so back in 2009 with the book “Be generous and prosper”. A book I wrote in collaboration with HH Dalai Lama about taking responsibility and using your influence – your leadership – to influence the development in a more sustainable direction.

In the book, I also mentioned Professor Jared Diamond’s list of the 5 elements that lead to the fall of civilisation:

Climate change
Hostile neighbours
Collapse of essential trading partners
Environmental problems
Society’s failing response to the previous four factors

The simple ethical dogma was/is that your decisions as a leader should never aggravate these 5 parameters – but rather reduce them.

“You came out with that message very early”, said one of my good colleagues. And yes. I was probably just 10 years ahead of most people in realising that there are no other ways to go – if we wish to continue to live on this planet. Management can no longer be just about you – your career and the company you work for. Management must also support a sustainable future. For the climate. For the world. In other words: Leadership should make sense to you – your business and the world.

Now is the time to let the last veils dissolve and to do our utmost to improve the world we have almost destroyed ourselves. Apparently, we had to come all the way here – all the way to the abyss – before it became clear to many that not even we can survive on a broken earth. So close to self-annihilation. Now that it has become clear to most that we stand with our backs against the wall, there is no way around it but to take global responsibility. And no. We cannot wait for China or see if we can get America to keep up. There is no more time left when the climate can barely hang on by its nails.

“Yes, but what about our earnings this year if we reduce our competitiveness by being the first to adopt sustainable behaviour?” And my answer is: “it will probably plateau – in the short term”. But what is the alternative? For everyone to wait for everyone else – and then we die? As Greta says, “your house is burning” and so it is! The earth is in flames and we CANNOT wait to see if the others will also take responsibility for extinguishing the fire. It makes no sense.

Many are so scared that aliens will come and kill us. But we seem to be managing that very well by ourselves. Once we have depleted the earth’s last resources, we will be forced to move elsewhere. After all, we are the dangerous aliens!

We all bear some of the responsibility for the world we live in – but it is the companies and organisations that have the greatest influence – and therefore also a greater responsibility. PH said: “The future is inevitable – progress is not”. Come and learn how to turn a bleak future into sustainable progress for you, your organisation and for the world.

Programme from 15.00 to 19.00