Change-minded leaders are able to stay ahead with innovation and sustainability — whether business transformation is planned or forced. This new series explores how.
- The events of 2020 have radically redefined “transformation” — making innovative leadership more important than ever.
- An ability to embrace change is a critical leadership criteria, so ING seeks to highlight global leaders making sustainable change in their companies, industries and beyond.
The speed and frequency at which businesses must innovate and transform has increased so much that a comfort level with near-constant change is practically a litmus test for 21st-century business leadership.
But, as the disruptions of 2020 have shown, even leaders who have successfully presided over major change in their organizations are forced to reexamine what change means when it’s dictated by world events, rather than being carried out according to a strategic plan.
Though it may take years to fully realize the full effect of COVID-19 on the global economy, it’s possible to already now draw leadership lessons from the ways in which companies were forced to respond in real-time and the new sustainable ways in which they are planning to rebuild, says Isabel Fernandez, global head of wholesale banking for ING.
“We often think of the pathway to innovation as thinking big, starting small, and scaling fast,” Fernandez says. “COVID-19 didn’t change the nature of leadership, sustainability, or innovation; it only compressed timelines and raised the stakes.
“This pandemic is forcing us to put out today’s fires while giving us an unprecedented opportunity to make new choices in addressing yesterday’s problems that continue to pose a risk to our tomorrow — climate change, loss of biodiversity, human rights, to name a few,” Fernandez says. “The world has an opportunity to rebuild better, and needs strong, inspired, innovative, and change-oriented leaders to do that.”
The 2020 Future of Leadership Global Executive Study and Research Project, released by MITSloane, points to the disconnect between the need for change-oriented leaders and the ready supply of such leaders. Among survey respondents, 82% said companies needed transformation-minded management. But only 40% believed leadership pipelines were in place to deliver on the need for executives capable of overseeing major change.
The takeaway is clear: It’s more important than ever for those aspiring leaders to have a playbook for navigating both unplanned business disruptions and intentional, strategic, and sustainable change.
This is why ING has created Changemakers’ Playbook, a series of articles providing leadership guidance from industry-specific perspectives.
ING has identified three industry sectors as holding special potential for leading the way toward a new view of sustainable business practices — one where sustainability is not seen through the lens of cost-cutting but rather new-revenue generation. These are transportation/logistics, food/agriculture, and energy.
This collection of industries is always important for both economies and public life, but the COVID-19 response has only intensified their role on the global stage. Pandemic-related delays and supply-chain breakdowns in worldwide transportation and logistics demonstrate the need for studying the common ground in these industries when they are operating at peak performance. Likewise, the food and agriculture sectors must meet the needs of a growing population in a responsible and sustainable way for the planet and its resources. The energy sector touches all value chains and holds enormous power to directly address the climate crisis.
The changemaker spirit on display
Even in this challenging year for global business, innovative leaders are proving it’s possible to keep companies’ transformation efforts on track, or even accelerate change. It’s possible for companies with innovative leaders to seize this opportunity and rebuild better. I
That’s why ING is also partnering with Business Insider to present the 100 People Transforming Business List for North America, Europe, and Asia, and the overall Transforming Business series of special reports. Together, these profiles of innovative leaders across the world — and insights from their management styles — are designed to inspire and inform other executives seeking to future-proof their businesses and lead in globally responsible ways.
Transforming for climate action
To fulfill its own responsibilities for making sustainable change, ING has committed to steering its loan book in line with the well-below two-degree climate goal of the Paris Agreement, known as the Terra approach. The bank is focusing on the sectors in its portfolio that are most responsible for greenhouse gas emissions.
Lending practices in those nine sectors — power generation, fossil fuels, automotive, shipping, aviation, steel, cement, residential mortgages, and commercial real estate — are being benchmarked, monitored and will be steered. It’s about financing the technologies in those sectors that will help meet climate goals and the transition to a low-carbon economy.
For ING, sustainability is in all the bank’s choices — as a lender, as an investor, and through the services offered to customers. Circular economy is another important solution toward limiting global warming as close as possible to 1.5°C. It requires banks to value differently, treat risk differently, and finance differently when it comes to the circular economy. ING sees its role in helping to unlock finance for new business models and engaging on new value propositions with clients.
“We are excited to embark on this series that examines how the changes that leaders make within companies can impact the wider world,” Fernandez says. “True changemakers are not solely focused on changing themselves, or their companies, or even their industries. They carry an awareness of how achieving their own goals can ripple, for better or worse, throughout the economy and the environment.”
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This post was created by Insider Studios with ING .
SEE ALSO: The100 People Transforming Business
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