I began my career in financial consultancy in London during heady days of the early Noughties. The culture of the City was fast-paced, cut-throat, and it wasn’t the most hospitable of places. I was young, newly-qualified, and hungry to work the excessive hours that consultancy professionals have pushed back against in recent years in order to get ahead. My career was everything. I learned a lot in those years, but the M&A world thrived on data and had little tolerance for human frailties.
Fast forward 20 years, I’m the executive director of a fast growth enterprise that is riding the wave of the global green energy revolution, employing more than 230 people and turning over in excess of £200million - all while simultaneously becoming a father twice over in the past few years. Looking back, the 20-something me would applaud the career success but could never have fathomed the impact parenthood had on it. It’s not made me soft, but rather it’s brought about a newfound empathy which can yield the biggest leadership lessons and the positive results that underpin them.
A visceral connection to the future: the green agenda
The green revolution and fatherhood coincided for me. And this confluence brought about the stark realisation that my children will have to grow up in whatever world we leave behind.
Cue a choice between mental anguish or an opportunity to effect change. Along with my fellow directors, I chose the latter for our business - not out of a desire for an evangelical green crusade, but because every commercial indicator required this to happen. Commercial and sustainability were lining up together.
ESG and the bottom line
It’s not always clear how a radical change in operations - which often requires significant upfront capital investment - will impact the bottom line. But unless you embark on this journey in a meaningful way it will never happen. I’ve learned along the way that sustainability is about more than just environmental protections – sustainable operations encompass ethical practices and how you look after your own employees as well as the communities you’re engaged with.
So we looked at every facet of our business through this lens, with one of our first actions in 2017, the year my first child was born, being to start paying the living wage to every employee. From there on, the feel-good factor of ‘doing the right thing’ could also be matched against positive company results.
Of course we looked at environmental actions too: our two major operational bases are covered in solar panels, producing more power than we need, while our investment in sustainable HVO (Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil fuel) for our large HGV fleet has slashed carbon emissions. Even our factory floor sweepings are recycled.
These changes took years and there’s no avoiding the fact that they were not cheap. But embracing this process – across the whole of the ESG arena - has paid real dividends, both personally and commercially. Our tender submissions slice through our competitors who haven’t made similarly robust changes and we’re now starting to positively influence our entire supply chain.
Exposed to the demands of family life
Some firms confine ESG to a department, part of marketing or compliance - and that’s fine. At some point, however, the penny drops that the way you treat your staff and the way you tackle climate action are inextricably linked - and both need to be driven by the leadership team. You need buy-in from everyone, from the top-down, to effect change. We knew we had to pay above the living wage (not all companies can afford to do this), and in our community we knew that if we focused4 on recruitment among friends and family this could positively impact retention, support childcare demands and build closer connections with our people.
It’s taken me years to understand how to balance the private joys of parenthood with the public responsibility to our stakeholders. I’ve become less tolerant to time wasting, or of people not pulling in the same direction – but being exposed the demands of family is the most valuable teacher of this lesson.
It can be as simple as realising you don’t want to miss that first nativity play, or having a sick child at home demanding cuddles, or simply of wanting to put in a good day’s work and then go home to focus on family. But it’s made me a more rounded person and unquestionably a better leader. I want to be approachable and ‘real.’ I genuinely care and want to create a working environment where people want to come to, where they feel valued, and where it supports their personal goals.
As a business leader you have to ask the question, is what we’re doing built for the long term? Is there value in what we’re delivering – for our people and across the supply chain? If I can answer yes to that, then I can sleep well (children notwithstanding!).
This journey involved playing the long game, but it laid a firm foundation for the future.
So, in summary:
- A feel-good factor for you and your staff can impact the bottom line – explore where the two meet.
- Business and home life are inextricable linked – we have to reverse any management style that lacks empathy and become more tolerant of workers’ personal circumstances.
- Be less tolerant of time wasting. The question to ask yourself is: “does this endeavour add value now, or in the future?” If not, you have the answer.
