As it says on the website: “We have no interest in convincing you to buy more and more different products when one can do the job.” It takes a different type of leader to tell customers to limit their spending. But in doing so, Akiskalioglu has actually created a loyal customer base which is driving success anyway. As she told me, it’s part of “a more human-centric attitude towards business”. Daniel Hooft, Kelp Blue founder and CEO Kelp is a fast-growing giant seaweed that provides a habitat for marine life while sequestering large amounts of CO2, possibly more than typical land forests. In the midst of the COVID pandemic, having left his corporate role at Shell, Daniel Hooft created a business out of this. Kelp Blue plants kelp forests in the oceans — currently around Namibia, Alaska and New Zealand — which are harvested for use in agriculture, food, pharmaceuticals and textiles: a for-profit solution to climate change and rewilding oceans. As Hooft told me on the podcast: “It’s a combination of an impact business which should have a very healthy bottom line.” He highlighted an important point: that social responsibility works even better when it is underpinned by innovative business models which drive profitable growth. A common thread runs between Katz, Akiskalioglu and Hooft: they are seeing their companies as a means to have an impact, not as an end itself. They are bursting out of traditional business bubbles and asking what they can do to make the world a better place. When I consider the work that needs to be done to transition to net zero by 2050, this is what the new archetype of leadership looks like. DR ANDREW WHITE Dr Andrew White is founder and CEO of Transcend. Space, an executive coaching company. He was formerly senior fellow in management practice at the University of Oxford’s Saïd Business School. Search “Leadership 2050” on your podcast provider to listen to the interviews featured in this article.
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THE FUTURE OF ENERGY
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