A new colleague, Hans Reus of The Netherlands, just sent me an article he wrote titled “Call to Action: Accelerating Sustainable Business Leadership” on a vital topic: encouraging leadership.
As I ended my 2004 book Moral Capitalism, Hans agrees that leadership, not systems, is a key variable in human wellbeing, for better and for worse. Leaders make systems and sustain them. Systems sustain themselves by grooming leaders who align with status quo values and interests.
So if we want to make global capitalism more responsive to the demands of sustainability or fairness, we need to cultivate the right kind of leaders.
I put it: moral capitalism does not happen by itself; it must be made to happen.
The selection of leaders is paramount.
I believe his article is an excellent statement on how to improve corporate leadership.
Please read it and let me know your thoughts.