Impact provocations

Hello and Happy Halloween!

The most scary thing at the moment seems to be how close we're getting to Christmas and saying goodbye to 2024. I hope your Halloween gets no scarier than that? ??

October has stayed busy as conference season continues and I was at Blue Earth Summit a couple of weeks ago. There were several topics that kept popping up in different conversations and speaker sessions. I started joining the dots and ended up with a set of provocations. I’ve pulled them together in this month’s newsletter in the hope that they get you thinking.

Hopefully they generate some ideas for how you can create greater and more meaningful impact through your business.

This month I have five questions for you to get you thinking...

1. Could you describe yourself as ‘CEO of the mission’?

Douglas Lamont shared his story of being CEO at Tony’s Chocolonely.

He said:

“I’m CEO of the mission for the whole industry. My job is to ask how we accelerate the change as fast as possible. If we aren’t driving to change whole industry and sector then it’s not going to be enough.”?

Assuming you’re clear on the difference your business wants to make in the world, could you describe yourself as ‘CEO of the mission’?

2. Do we have enough wisdom in our leaders?

The concept of Eldership and wisdom kept cropping up.?

?? Do we have true wisdom in our leaders today?

?? Are they performing the role of Elders?

?? Are we embracing and valuing the wisdom of local communities? Are we allowing them to lead on solutions?

I encourage you to think about how this thinking could influence your approach to leadership.

3. Are you open to taking risks and being uncomfortable?

We need to live through discomfort in order to transform. Transformative leaders are those who are willing to risk failure, feel discomfort, listen to different voices and challenge business as usual.

?? How comfortable are you at taking risks?

?? How willing are you to feel uncomfortable?

?? When was the last time you pushed yourself out of your comfort zone?? How did it make you feel?

4. Are we really being inclusive?

?? It’s easy to be in community with people who are like you. Are you taking time to build strong relationships with those who aren’t?

?? We can give marginalised groups a seat at the table … but who designed the table?

5. How can we play to old system to create the new system?

Charlotte Sewell talked about using the system we have to create the system of the future.?

?? How can we play the existing systems to help create the new world? E.g. by putting a price on nature while it’s alive (we’re very good at doing it when it’s dead).

?? How can we help the old system to die??

?? How could you do this in your role and through your business??

Which feels like it neatly brings us back full circle to being CEO of the mission.

This is a bit of a bumper month for questions as I've already given you lots of questions in Bite 1!?

The overarching question I’d encourage you to ask yourself is:

When was the last time you brought a different perspective into your business? Your decision making?

I’d encourage you to take one step to expose yourself to different perspectives and ideas.

Here are some examples:

• Download an app for a newspaper you wouldn’t normally read – check the headlines every day and read articles that don’t appeal to you. Or you could even buy a real newspaper ??
• Follow people on social media who have a different perspective or opinion to you and/or come from a different culture or background.
• When you see a social media post with lots of comments, go in and read a few of them - I do this a lot and it often exposes me to different perspectives.
• Watch a film from a different culture.
• Read a book from a different country.
• Go to a conference (!) and intentionally go to sessions which are outside your niche or area of expertise.

What else do you do to keep yourself curious and alive to different perspectives?? Please let me know, I’d love to hear!

Free seminar - build a responsible business plan that delivers real change

Nicky and I will be running our popular seminar again on 12th and 13th November:

Build a sustainability plan that delivers real change - practical strategies for senior executives

Here’s what someone said last time:

“I like how you clearly broke down the strategies making them?all easy to understand no matter where you are on your sustainability journey, and with?actionable steps to go away with.”

We’d love you to join us! You can reserve your place here .

Where I’m going to be over the next couple of months

It’s (still) conference season and so I’ll continue to be out and about quite a bit:

• ICAEW Sustainability Summit – Monday 4th -Tuesday 5th November. Online and open to all.
• The Regenerative Business Summit – Thursday 14th November, London.
• Our B Local Surrey flagship event on 6th December with a couple of awesome speakers – Anuradha Chugh (former CEO of Pukka, on the Board of B Lab UK) and Douglas Lamont (CEO of Tony’s Chocolonely, former CEO of innocent, Chair of the Better Business Act). Book your spot here . You don’t have to be a B Corp or based in Surrey!? But you do have to be quick as tickets are selling very fast!

Let me know if you’ll be at any of these events as I’d love to catch up in person.

As always, let me?know?([email protected] ) what you'd like me to include in future editions of the newsletter. What help do you need to ensure that the actions your taking deliver meaningful impact?

P.S. Don’t forget to reserve a spot at our free seminar on 12th / 13th November where we’ll share tips on how to build a responsible business plan that delivers real change.

P.P.S If you enjoyed this newsletter please share it with a friend and encourage them to sign up .