Sustainable leadership – the Swedish way
On the 18th of May, an auditorium crowded with people, became equally crowded with inspiration and clever thoughts. The theme for SSE Executive Education’s event was “Sustainable leadership – the Swedish way”, and the guests were presented with insights and knowledge regarding the role of modern leadership in securing a sustainable future.
Three invited speakers gave short, inspirational talks, followed by reflections and a general discussion of the topics for the evening. Below are the event speakers and links to their respective talks (video).
Mats Andersson
The former CEO of Fjärde AP-fonden, one of Sweden’s public pension funds with managed assets of approximately SEK 334 billion.
Mats Andersson was the first speaker of the event and shared his belief in investment in sustainability and reduced climate impact as a driver for high returns.
When Fjärde AP-fonden under Mats’ leadership actively started to reduce investments in CO2-emitting businesses, they saw how revenues increased as the level of CO2 emissions in their investments went down. Dealing with sustainability is a driver for high returns, according to Mats Andersson. And also he sees mitigating climate risk as a way to enhance the return for a long-term investor.
Robin Teigland
Professor in business administration at Stockholm School of Economics, whose research focuses on the intersection of strategy, technology, innovation, and entrepreneurship. In particular, on how the internet, social media and other emerging technologies enable self-organizing communities to create value outside of a firm’s traditional boundaries.
Robin Teigland’s talk centered on the role of our networks as drivers for knowledge and innovation, and the importance of the informal networks. “Stockholm has a unique entrepreneurial eco system, much thanks to flat organizations where the lack of traditional hierarchies increases the possibility for information and knowledge sharing across traditional boundaries. And do not underestimate the role of the “Swedish fika”, a place for the informal networking to truly thrive.”
Go to Robin Teigland’s talk: “Sustainable leadership: Networks and Swedish fika” >>
Emma Stenström
Associate professor and Center Director for the Research Center for Arts, Business & Culture (ABC) at Stockholm School of Economics.
Emma Stenström shared her insights regarding the importance of compassion in modern sustainable leadership.“In order to take care of the world, you also need to be able to take care of yourself, your group and, sometimes, even your boss”.
Emma took her starting point in dealing with four major and current challenges: The environment and survival of the planet, economical with new business models, societal with polarization and existential with questions around what will happen to work in the future. And furthermore; “Can we handle these challenges if we don’t address issues about our own sustainable well-being, and how we as individuals and leaders sustain?”
Go to Emma Stenström’s talk; “Sustainable leadership: Challenges and compassion” >>
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More time for inspiration?
You can also see a video representing the full event “Sustainable leadership – the Swedish way” here.
SSE Executive Education has access to an amazing network of experts and produces video, podcasts and articles regularly. You will find these in our inspiration area.
