On climate, on social issues, on using business for good – are we all mini-Borises?
Boris’s climate policies and plans (inasmuch as they exist) fall a long way short of Boris’s climate promises. If you’re generous, you may flatter him with a “road to hell paved with good intentions”. If you’re a cynic, you’ll see them as promises made to an electorate that wants to hear them, with no real intention to implement.
Either way, the disconnect between what he says he wants to achieve, and what he’s actually doing is far from unique to Boris. It crosses all political, social and corporate lines.
Within business, it’s as evident in most companies’ Net Zero or diversity goals, as it is in their core values, and even in their business strategy.
In most instances, I don’t doubt the intent. In many instances, I also don’t doubt the zeal or genuine eagerness to make it happen.
But the missing ingredient is almost always a believable plan, a way to make the plan happen, and the self-discipline to stick to the plan.
And I don’t mean an inflexible plan. In the rapidly changing environment we inhabit – climate, business or social – the plan needs to be able to flex without straying into the chaotic or random, and it needs to empower people all along the organisational structure to make decisions and act at the right level.
All of which is completely achievable if we approach it in a structured and accountable way.
But that takes time. It takes thought. It takes discipline. It takes empathy. It takes committed leadership.
And it takes action.
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