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Stewards of the Future: A Guide for Competent Boards
Climate- and ESG-competent boards are in high demand by investors and other stakeholders. In fact, climate change and other environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues have become some of the biggest challenges faced by 21st-century board directors. Today’s boards must contend with a wide range of stakeholders who can affect the fortunes of a company—customers, suppliers, employees, shareholders, politicians, activists, and social-media influencers, among others. This book demonstrates that for long-term profits and sustainability, boards need to not only define the purpose of their company in society but have the insight to ask the right questions of management on complex issues such as climate change, ESG, corruption, cybersecurity, human trafficking, supply-chain resilience, and much more. With insightful contributions from over one hundred world experts, this book provides board members and executives with a practical guide on what is required today to develop thriving, future-fit organizations. The insights shared in this book have one common the companies with the best chance of surviving and thriving will be guided by leaders with the foresight, knowledge, and determination to tackle the daunting challenges that confront all of humankind.
288 pages, Hardcover
Published January 12, 2022
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52 people want to read
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December 20, 2021
Helle Bank Jorgensen’s new book is effectively titled Stewards of the Future: A Guide for Competent Boards. The title being so simple, yet encapsulating the entirety of the book’s topical content in one sentence is an indicator you’re in good hands. Jorgensen doesn’t spare the rod, nor is overly verbose. She tells it like it is, albeit in an educated, articulate manner. The times have changed, as Jorgensen is quick to remind you page by page with complex, statistical analysis. With said changes comes a certain responsibility in how one assembles a board of directors, based on a series of timely and potent issues such as climate change, corruption, and supply chain consistency. “Sustainability ... corporate responsibility ... business purpose ... corporate statesmanship ... social responsibility ... ESG ... Call it what you like, competent boards can no longer afford to put environmental, social, and governance—ESG for short— issues on the back burner,” writes Jorgensen in a key chapter, appropriately christened Three Letters That Matter. “…Thus, employees can no longer be viewed simply as a cost centre that needs to be contained. As business becomes more knowledge intensive, workers are increasingly seen as valuable assets that, like any other, need to be protected and nurtured. As stewards of the future, board members must ensure that policies are geared to that end. The reward will be that the company continues to attract the talent required to fulfill its purpose.”
Such sentiments are part of a growing philosophy that Jorgensen isn’t unique in providing. But because of her credentials, overall background, and confident sense of style, Stewards of the Future doesn’t come across as overly holistic, nor tediously maudlin. It’s a fact-based narrative, backed up by charts and detailed scenarios and examples that breathe life into what could be otherwise dry, extensive arguments. Jorgensen isn’t necessarily a natural writer, but her overall approach to the delivery of the book’s contents is what enables her to win over the reader’s trust and confidence. She never veers into emotive territory, preferring to stay within the confines of statistics and data - in this case, never to a fault. It’s a welcome relief to manuals focusing solely on the holism angle of rectifying corporate practices. With books like Stewards of the Future, naysayers and stereotypical titans won’t be able to write off such sentiments as tangential ruminations any longer. The time is now, Jorgensen writes, and the clock is ticking. The issues impacting redemptive workplace practices are pressing, and the kind one can’t be late to the party for. “The reasons for…transformation are not hard to find. Modern technology enables a company’s stakeholders—share-holders, customers, suppliers, activists, communities, and employees—to be more connected than ever. Those who feel disgruntled can use their smartphones to ruin a company’s reputation in minutes…Elsewhere, human rights are under threat as modern slavery and economic exploitation of human life, as well as of nature, are on the rise,” she states. “Beyond those existential questions, competent boards need to ensure that their company’s values and culture reflect its purpose and the reason for its existence.”
Such sentiments are part of a growing philosophy that Jorgensen isn’t unique in providing. But because of her credentials, overall background, and confident sense of style, Stewards of the Future doesn’t come across as overly holistic, nor tediously maudlin. It’s a fact-based narrative, backed up by charts and detailed scenarios and examples that breathe life into what could be otherwise dry, extensive arguments. Jorgensen isn’t necessarily a natural writer, but her overall approach to the delivery of the book’s contents is what enables her to win over the reader’s trust and confidence. She never veers into emotive territory, preferring to stay within the confines of statistics and data - in this case, never to a fault. It’s a welcome relief to manuals focusing solely on the holism angle of rectifying corporate practices. With books like Stewards of the Future, naysayers and stereotypical titans won’t be able to write off such sentiments as tangential ruminations any longer. The time is now, Jorgensen writes, and the clock is ticking. The issues impacting redemptive workplace practices are pressing, and the kind one can’t be late to the party for. “The reasons for…transformation are not hard to find. Modern technology enables a company’s stakeholders—share-holders, customers, suppliers, activists, communities, and employees—to be more connected than ever. Those who feel disgruntled can use their smartphones to ruin a company’s reputation in minutes…Elsewhere, human rights are under threat as modern slavery and economic exploitation of human life, as well as of nature, are on the rise,” she states. “Beyond those existential questions, competent boards need to ensure that their company’s values and culture reflect its purpose and the reason for its existence.”
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