Today I met up with Dr James Bradfield Moody. For any of you that watch ABC New Inventors - you will be familiar with James.
Others may be aware how James is the Executive Director of Development for the CSIRO.
Additionally you may be familiar with the book “The 6th Wave: How to succeed in a resource-limited world” that James has co-authored with Bianca Nogrady http://sixthwave.org/
Our discussion was about responsible leadership and as a young innovator, speaker and thought leader, James had a few very interesting concepts that hold true...
James believes truly responsible leaders take a long term view, past immediate gains to the next decade and beyond. They understand that responsibility means looking at the past as well as the future to create a better world for all humanity.
A responsible leader has a variety of dimensions...
- They honour the past and the lessons we have learnt
- They look towards the future and how we can develop wealth for future generations - not with cash - with a better life
- In this way, responsible leaders leave our world as a better place - that is the legacy they live to create.
They also take a much broader view of costs and benefits for business.
James is particularly interested in sustainability...
Sustainable business Leaders understand scarcity will drive innovation to create new products and services and as good stewards for our future, they also understand the importance of involving all stakeholders in their business, from shareholders and customers to employees and suppliers.
Responsible leaders as stewards of our future understand every business contributes and extracts from our society and environment and every product has a footprint of energy, water and waste.
James believes a responsible leader has a great sense of purpose. By thinking in the long term, generating value and being a good steward of those areas they are responsible for - a leader automatically taps into effective ways of communicating - it becomes second nature.
When leadership doesn't work well is when it hasn't tapped into and learnt from the past.
The GFC is a classic example of this which has similarities to other financial slumps like the 70’s oil shocks and the great depression.
Another example of when things don't work is when people don't take future generations into account - when the future costs of their actions are much worse than the low value they are currently creating. This can cost them financially as well - as we become a more knowledge capable society.
When leaders don't subscribe to a higher purpose is the 3rd major problem - then people don't believe in you as a leader into the future.
Going forward, James sees people are a lot more selective on who they will work with. Mobility is available - people can move around.
Responsible leaders understands that it is a competitive world and as technology and communication methods provide more knowledge and mobility - businesses will need to look more closely at how they develop their business model innovations - to cater for the needs for our future generations over the next 30-40 years.
Future generations are more interested in supporting society and our planet dynamically across locations - rather than settling in one house and occupation.
James believes there are many ways Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) and sustainability will drive growth as we lead into an era of more values driven leaders.
Responsible leadership will underlie the values of most successful leaders who are motivated by generating happiness with their staff, stakeholders, clients and the broader community over the next 30-50 years.
If you are not making the world a better place - the world will not sustain involvement with you.
Are you ready for the 6th wave of innovation as a responsible leader?...
What happens in the second half of the 2000's? - Well that will depend on what we make of the 1st half...
No comments:
Post a Comment