Rethinking Leadership for a Green World

This book brings together some of the brightest contemporary thinkers on leadership, complexity and sustainability to consider the big ideas that we will need to make the changes required, and to outline the major themes that can inform a new approach to constructing a green world.

First James Lovelock, and recently Prince William and David Attenborough believe that we have reached a tipping point in the process of climate change. Whether they are right or not, it is certainly true that the impact of humankind upon the ecology of the earth has reached a point where real changes in human behaviour are required. If managers are to be enablers of planetary survival then we need to develop a new approach to risk, which explicitly includes ecological limits upon economic behaviour. This implies a fundamental reorientation of their role in allocating resources to minimise risk and maximise reward.

This book brings together some of the brightest contemporary thinkers on leadership, complexity and sustainability to consider the big ideas that we will need to make the changes required, and to outline the major themes that can inform a new approach to constructing a green world. It looks at how to ensure that local models of sustainability are able to flourish in the context of global networks and presents specific case studies of markets and organisations that offer insights into the development integrated solutions and the leadership lessons we can learn.

Combining both theory and practice, this book serves to guide business managers and provides deeper insight and critical perspectives on some of the key issues facing leaders moving towards the green economy. It also provides useful supplementary reading for students in business and environmental studies.

Autorentext

Andrew Taylor has won global awards for projects bringing street children and managers together, diversity and environmental policy. He leads Connect CEE and the NGO Transilvania Executive Education. Andrew has a PhD in environmental politics from Cardiff University and has published two co-authored books.

Inhalt

1. Introduction. Part I: Shaping the Leadership Challenge. 2. Speaking Truth to Power: The perils of (scientific) leadership in the Green Economy. 3. Values and Leadership in the Anthropocene. 4. What can young Social Entrepreneurs tell us about Environmental Leadership? Perspectives from Brazil and India. 5. Frontiers of Freedom: US Environmental Leadership. 6. The Weaponisation of Climate Change: Environmental Leadership in the Age of Trump. Part II: Systems and Complexity. 7. Complex Systems Literacy: Social dilemmas - the setup for managerial decision-making in a complex world. 8. Green Shoots: Emergent Systemic Leadership and Critical Systems Practice. 9. Complexity and Networks. Part III: Looking Forward. 10. Stewardship and Strategy In Turbulent Times. 11. The 'Undergrowth Movement' and the Virtues of Leadership. 12. The 'Interesting' Case of EU Commission Leadership and the Emission Trading Scheme. 13. Reshaping Green Retail Supply Chains in a New World Order. 14. Climate Risk and Adaptation in Wales: Leadership for Future Generations? Part IV: Further Reading. 15. Bibliometric analysis of management and leadership in the sustainability agenda. 16. Conclusion.