When you know what you stand for, you don’t have to respond to every gust of wind. That’s leadership. Dr. Fridrik Larsen , Founder, CHARGE Energy Branding
> Listen to full discussion with Dr. Fridrik Larsen and Will Bosanko on the eRENEWABLE and The Green Insider Podcast—out now.
F or leaders trying to navigate the transition to But according to two of the industry’s most influential brand strategists, now is not the time for reaction. It’s the time for radical clarity. “You cannot build a brand without having complete clarity and alignment around the future vision for your business,” says Will Bosanko, CEO for UK and Europe at Brandpie. “Unless leadership is aligned on who they want to be and what value they’re trying to create, they’re essentially responding at whim to short-term shocks.” Bosanko’s comments came during a recent episode of The Green Insider podcast, hosted by eRENEWABLE CEO Mike Nemer, where he appeared alongside Dr. Fridrik Larsen, Founder of CHARGE Energy Branding. Their message was clear: leaders must look cleaner systems, while simultaneously maintaining energy security and commercial performance, the path forward has rarely been more contested. beyond the turbulence and act with a vision for the future, not just for the sake of brand-building, but for organizational survival. DO YOU KNOW WHERE YOU’RE GOING? How should energy brands respond when tomorrow’s policy outlook is uncertain and public opinion is divided? “You start by aligning the leadership team,” says Bosanko. “You need a North Star. The story you tell— internally and externally—must stay ruthlessly consistent with that vision.” This “ruthless consistency,” he explains, is not about repetition or rigidity. It’s about giving both employees and customers a clear sense of direction in a world increasingly shaped by unpredictability. That internal clarity becomes critical when the external landscape is changing rapidly. Larsen highlights the challenge of navigating elections or fluctuating energy policies in the US: “Do you pivot? Do you wait? Do you say less or more? The only way through that is to understand who you are, what you want to be, and what your customers value.” For Dr. Larsen, who has worked with utilities and
energy retailers across Europe and the US, the conversation revealed a familiar leadership dilemma: how to remain steady when the ground beneath you keeps shifting. “Sometimes people rebrand when things are going rough and that's normally the wrong thing to do,” he noted. He described recent conversations with US-based energy firms uncertain whether to rebrand, restructure or retrench in response to policy shifts. “I tell them: don’t just run off in a different direction. First, understand where you’re going. Then decide how to respond.” Leadership, he said, is about the ability to resist reactive thinking and instead lead with intent. Consistency might sound boring, but in a crisis, it’s what employees are looking for. They want to know where the company is headed. They want to believe there’s a plan. “Internally, brand is what creates alignment,” says Bosanko. “If your employees aren’t clear on what they’re building towards, you’re not going to get consistency in decision-making. Everyone goes off in different directions.” THE ENGINE THAT DRIVES DECISIONS Asked how executives can support employees who may feel anxious or disoriented, Bosanko didn’t hesitate to state that they need a vision they can believe in. “Are they making decisions in line with the business’s future goal? Do they know what they’re building towards?” Amid the noise, companies need leaders aligned on a common direction, what kind of organization they want to become, and how they will get there. “When you know what you stand for, you don’t have to respond to every gust of wind,” Larsen says. “That’s leadership.” As for Bosanko, his parting advice to energy executives facing the pressure of transition is straightforward: “Take the future seriously. Build from it. Let your brand be the engine that turns long-term vision into near-term confidence for your people, your stakeholders, and your customers.”
Issue 3 - Brandpie Energy 19
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