Although former Unilever boss Paul Polman is rightly acknowledged as a pioneering champion of corporate sustainability, his call for a team of “heroic chief executives to tackle climate change and inequality” (Report, 22nd July) may be a case of trying to solve problems with the same thinking that created them. The complex and interconnected challenges of building an equitable society and economy that meets the needs of nine billion people while living within our finite planetary resources is likely to require a different kind of leadership in business and politics.
Rather than people who see themselves as the heroes of the story, these challenges call for leaders who can make heroes of others by enabling and empowering them to achieve change.
Ian Bretman
London
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