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New styles of leadership are needed to address the sustainability challenge – and at all levels in society, eg at the international, national and local political levels; at the organisational level; at CEO and board levels in businesses and opinion-forming organisations; and at the level of communities and individuals. The Foundation plans to focus the final stage of its 5-year programme on business leaders, as they are often the most effective catalysts for change. One of the main problems to overcome is that most business leaders believe that the business of business is primarily about the creation of economic value – not about social or ethical values. As we saw in the Tenth Consultation, that is not surprising, given the narrowness of current business education. At INSEAD, for example, we learned that business ethics is taught on just one day – and then it is back to shareholder value for the remaining days of the year. That said, progress is already under way in some quarters. Indeed, a recent survey by Andersen Consulting, The Evolving Role of Executive Leadership, presented at the Tenth Consultation, showed that the attributes needed by the leaders of the future are evolving rapidly. Vision, values and setting priorities come first, compared with the self-confidence, vision and personal excellence held to be priority characteristics of leaders in the mid-nineties. Some of the questions to be addressed include:
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