2030 Countdown, Practices for Purpose-driven Leaders

Have you noticed a shift lately, whereby leaders correct themselves mid-sentence as they start to say "we have 10 years left to avoid irreversible climate change and biodiversity loss ...", only to realise that the beginning of 2030 is actually less than 7 years away?! That 'comfort buffer' of 10 years is gone and now is the time for Purpose-driven Leaders to step up.

They say that the most vital milestones of a person's life occur in the first 7 years. If we translate that to our Planet's next chapter, then for better or worse the 80 months leading up to 2030 will be pivotal in the wider 21st Century transformation.?

So what kinds of transformational leadership practices can one use when your back is up against the wall and the health of the Planet is on the line?

In my experience, these three stand out:

1. CLARIFY YOUR PURPOSE

It's sounds obvious but in a world full of greenwash, leaders need to be clear and accountable about what their purpose really is.?

At the beginning of 2023, informed by the experience of COP15, we revised Regeneration Projects purpose to 'We Practice Business With Nature For Future Generations.' The goal was to make something sharper and iterate based on previous versions.?

The goal isn't perfection but it's important to signal your intent to stakeholders, so write down and communicate your purpose with those you work with so they know where you stand.

2. DEFINE YOUR PATHWAYS

The triple planetary crisis of climate change, biodiversity loss and pollution is massive and there's an abundance of ways to make a contribution. Choosing where you're going to put your finite energy and resources is super important.?

For Regen Projects, it was the benchmarks that I observed at COP15 that really helped crystalise not only which areas we're creating impact in but also how best to communicate that. This became our eight Regen Action Pathways:

1. Ecological Leadership (Education)

2. Indigenous Knowledge & Partnerships?

3. Nature-based Enterprise

4. Nature Investment & Policy

5. Regional Economic Transition & Trade

6. Workforce & Intergenerational Collaboration?

7. Swimmable Cities & Communities?

8. Regen Incubator?

Like Purpose statements, these Pathways will continue to evolve but they help you make sense of your unique 2030 actions, to yourself and to your stakeholders. Even if you're a startup like us, including flagship projects and initiatives for each Pathway on your website can be a good way of encapsulating the key principles of what you plan to scale in your next phase of growth. See here for an example:?https://regenprojects.earth/projects/actionpathways/

3. FIND YOUR PLACE(S)

This one can be interpreted in several ways but the crux is that when you work as a purpose-driven leader you're leading from somewhere very specific on our Earth. The ecology, culture, politics, economics and worldview of that place dictates the opportunities and constraints that you're working within. So, purpose-driven leadership in Melbourne compared to Mendoza, compared to Copenhagen or Tel Aviv, Nairobi, Umbria or Manila are all very different. That diversity is critical to our collective resilience.

The questions for you are:?

Firstly, where are you leading from and what are the characteristics of that place?

Secondly, how can you position yourself in the right places, at the right times, with the right people to make that leadership count for 2030?

To use Regen Projects as a guinea pig again, there are three key places that are vital to us positioning ourselves as impactful actors in these next 7 years:

1. COP15 UN Biodiversity Convention, Montreal, Dec 2022 - As Paris was for the Climate Movement, Montreal-Kunming was for the Biodiversity Movement. Being asked to represent The Thin Green Line Foundation and advocate for the world's Rangers to be embedded within Nature investment and policy was an incredible honour. Although unplanned it really cemented an increased awareness of how important advocacy for grassroots and frontline ecological leaders is for Regen Projects' DNA - Rangers, Indigenous Peoples, Youth, Farmers and Women especially.

2. Regional Impact Trade Alliance (RITA) 'Meeting in Mendoza' (Argentina), April 2023

Building on our involvement in the Impact Trade Gathering organised by Impact Trade, Sistema B International and Aboca Italia in Sansepolcro (Italy) in June 2022, the 'Meeting in Mendoza' will lay the strategic foundations for a new non-profit organisation. RITA will be a platform dedicated to accelerating social and environmental solutions through international impact trade between cities, regions and small nations around the world. Showing up and spending quality time in person with our colleagues, after over 2 years of continuous online collaboration is so important, especially because it celebrates different worldviews and elevates our collective purpose for the Common Good.

3. Garma Festival, Arnhem Land, Australia, August 2023

This year is critical for the Australian Indigenous Rights movement, with the vote on the Aboriginal Voice to Parliament set to take place in late 2023. Considering our long-standing commitment to supporting and partnering with First Nations Elders and communities, we know that we need to at Garma this year to listen as well as share our voice. For us, it's not about politics, it's about the power of Indigenous and Western knowledge working together at a critical time on this Planet, and what they can demonstrate to other countries which are pursuing genuine, long-lasting Reconciliation.

So in wrapping up, as a purpose-driven leader the practices associated with your Purpose, Pathways and Places will be uniquely your own. Spending the time to develop and regularly iterate these strategic foundations is invaluable when you're navigating through times of change, disruption and uncertainty. To be honest, this can often be a lonely and isolating journey, but you're not alone.

Just remember that from an ecological stand point, after disturbances like bushfires certain pioneering plants (like Acacias / Wattles) play a key role in fixing nitrogen back into the soil. They have a life span of about 7-15 years and make the conditions for life more suitable for other longer-lived species. Like these plants, I believe that purpose-driven leaders have a special ecological function in these next 7 years of transition leading up to 2030. It was COVID not a bushfire that activated us!

We will lead, create and regenerate in ways that other types of leaders are not currently capable, and that's OK. Their function may be to stabilise as we design the transition. We need to focus on what we're each being called to do, and make sure to support each other along the way.

Learn more about Regen Projects' work: https://regenprojects.earth/projects/actionpathways/

Background:

Regeneration Projects is a small B Corp-certified startup which emerged three years ago at in heart of Melbourne's world-renowned COVID-19 Lockdown. We're a startup and create our impact by training and consulting to professionals, businesses, First Nations, environmental non-profits, government bodies and education institutions in their transition to having a purpose beyond profit. Specifically, we support them to go 'beyond Sustainability' by trading in a 'let's do less harm' mindset and embracing the potential of 'Regeneration'. This opens up opportunities to benefit diverse stakeholders (not just shareholders) and create 'profit' across a range of Capitals - Natural, Wellbeing, Cultural, Material (inc. Financial) and Intellectual. These Five Capitals are a tool that we've developed to assist Western minds is seeing value creation from a very different way to the one they've been taught in mainstream business schools and organisations.?

Imagine Melbourne design culture mixed with Australian First Nations ecological knowledge and Patagonia-inspired business practices, and you'll have a picture of Regen Projects. The most important thing to know is that although our background includes working with pioneers of nature-based business who embrace sustainability to varying degrees, we believed that more was possible and we dared to act.

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Photo credit: Suzie McErvale