16 Mar 2011
Being shortlisted for a Climate Week award – some brief thoughts on global corporations, competitive awards and leadership, by Peter Lipman.
(A guest post this morning from Peter Lipman, Chair of Transition Network).
I’ve been nominated and then shortlisted for an “inspiring leader” award in Climate Week. This led to discussion at Transition Network about involvement in Climate Week and agreement that it might be useful for me to explain some of my thinking about it. There’s been a lot of controversy about Climate Week, mainly because of companies like the Royal Bank of Scotland being a supporting partner. After all, RBS could do more about climate change if they stopped funding the exploitation of the tar sands.
And of course it isn’t just about the tar sands – companies like Tesco and RBS represent a particular, globalised way of doing business which undermines communities’ attempts to re-localise. On top of that having an award for being an “inspiring leader” raises different kinds of questions. As George Monbiot said recently in a commentary on an Observer “eco-power” list, awards can be “invidious. They extract a few characters from a vast collective effort: generally those who are skilled at taking credit for other people’s work.”
What sort of values do awards that pick out individuals foster? I’ve been using Common Cause (for a summary see this piece by George Monbiot) to help me think more strategically about what I do. In it Tom Crompton looks at the difference between extrinsic values, which relate to how we are perceived by others, and intrinsic ones, which aren’t focused on self-interest. I see a danger that participating in an inspiring leader award will tend to foster extrinsic instead of intrinsic values.
So why have I decided to stay in? Partially because I don’t see what we gain by labeling others as being solely responsible for what we all face, when engaging in modern life means that we end up participating in the systems which of course include banks and supermarkets. Also I’d like to get the chance to continue the discussion about climate change and the tar sands, and in particular to raise with RBS how their actions are viewed by people active on climate change in communities around the world. Similarly, I’d like to raise with Tesco not only how sustainable and resilient their business model is in the long term for Tesco, but also what its wider impact is.
There’s another, linked, discussion that’s important to me about what leadership could mean. Over and over again, when people discuss how to respond to the challenges we’re facing, a lack of leadership comes up. My thinking about this was helped by a distinction made by Margaret Wheatley and Deborah Frieze in a recent article between “leader-as-hero” and “leader-as-host”. They argue that we shouldn’t be looking for leaders who are visionary, inspiring, brilliant and trustworthy to follow and that the idea of such heroic leadership rests on the illusion that someone, somewhere, can be in control. In contrast, they suggest that hosting leaders create change by relying on everyone’s creativity, commitment and generosity – and if I win this award, I’ll talk about that, as for me it is core to what underpins Transition.
For me, responding meaningfully to what we face comes through community based action, and the crucial, critical role that communities have to play needs far greater recognition. If I win the award, I’ll talk about that, and how my life has been transformed by working at/with an amazing range of organizations including Sustrans, the Centre for Sustainable Energy, Transition Network, Transition Bristol and the Communities and Climate Action Alliance [a network of networks, including amongst others the Low Carbon Communities Network, the Green Communities Network and Climate Challenge Fund communities in Scotland as well as Transition Network].
The organisations and communities that give me so much, and that I’m so proud to work with, aren’t striving to make small changes while keeping the basic structure of society the same. They’re setting out to transform society on the basis of local communities working to create a more sustainable and resilient lifestyle for themselves. I’ll be delighted if that is recognised.
3sa
16 Mar 12:19pm
Peter -
You could always do a John Lennon!
dave prescott
16 Mar 2:59pm
Hi Peter
This is an interesting post and it reminded me of the decision taken by Alastair McIntosh to participate in the stakeholder panel of concrete multinational Lafarge, after spending 13 years battling against a proposed superquarry:
http://www.alastairmcintosh.com/general/quarry/lafarge-panel.htm
Your decision to remain involved in this awards process seems very sensible given the potential platform it provides you with.
Stephen watson
16 Mar 6:18pm
“I’d like to raise with Tesco not only how sustainable and resilient their business model is in the long term for Tesco, but also what its wider impact is.”
Tesco. Sustainable?
Supermarkets. Sustainable?
I don’t think so, no matter how often you raise the subject with them. The problems are inherent in what a supermarket actually IS. It makes about as much sense as a sustainable nuclear power plant.
Trugs
16 Mar 7:16pm
Don’t forget to talk about Transition Training and Consulting too if you get the opportunity with these big corporations. The corporations employ very large numbers of people, are hugely influential in our communities in today’s economy, yet we can help them rethink in ways that are much more positive, what they do and how they do it !
Pascale Scheurer
16 Mar 7:27pm
Dear Peter
First, warmest congratulations on your nomination.
We have never met, but I am absolutely sure you have not been nominated because you are “skilled at taking credit for other people’s work”. That is clear from your post. I am also sure you will give RBS/Tesco pause for thought.
One of the things holding back the Climate movement right now, is people holding back. If awards are a (somewhat random, granted) recognition that individuals are taking personal risks and making personal commitments to push change forward, that is heroic and inspiring to those who may be yet to leave the bench and come onto the pitch.
You could think of it as accepting the award as an Ambassador for a movement, an example of an individual doing what they can, and with the support of many others achieving great things. Don’t forget that a whole group of people have nominated, referred, judged, and worked hard to create these awards. They are all part of the team, in whose honour you raise the cup.
Have a great time!
Pascale
Trish Knox
16 Mar 7:41pm
If we want resilience we live it. If we want peace we express it. If we want a vision for a positive future we deliver it.
If we want community we reach out and let the links open and close as they may. We honor a “self-regulating system” as Meg Wheatley describes.
I appreciate the many Transition leaders who walk their talk.
Caroline Walker
17 Mar 5:25pm
Thank you very much for this and also for the illuminating articles it links to. The Common Cause piece agrees with George Lakoff that it is vital both to understand the frames within which we think – and to re-frame the debate around intrinsic values.
michael Dunwell
17 Mar 6:48pm
Its OK if you go on your bike
Dougal Alexander Fleming
18 Mar 4:12am
Dear whoever’s reading.
Following a discussion with my mother this article came to hand. I have this to say;
I am young man growing up in very uncertain times. Having never lived outside of capitalism, my generation doesn’t know what it is like to live sustainably. Tesco’s, Boots, Microsoft/Apple, Sony, Barclays, etc have been a constant fixture of my generation. We’ve all grown up with a mobile phone in our hands, just never the same one. I know this is not the only way. How do we move forward, without further compromising values inherent to our natural world?
It is amazing we still refer to the climate change debate. 99.9% of scientists accept it is happening, let’s move on and start calling it the climate change solution. I believe there to be certain hurdles standing in the way of us making the right decision when it comes to this next step.
The first hurdle has now jumped by the masses it’s an awareness and a little information on what climate change is.
The second hurdle is learning about the implications of it and finding out how we approach the situation.
The 3rd hurdle is overcoming a common fear of the unknown. For If we act with haste, without knowledge and through fear the results will be even more detrimental. Whatever actions we take should be conceived with love.
Our lives require a little challenge to make it fulfilling. It just so happens that this is massive challenge and needs us all. I believe it will happen. I dream of showing my grandchildren the biodiversity that exists on this planet, and not in a book. With all the colours and smells that exist now.
I would support you going to these awards and making a stand. It seems to me cheeky that Tesco who dodge taxes and squeeze out local diversity all over the world, and RBS a publicly owned company who payed huge bonuses while declaring a yearly loss then go on to sponsor climate week. It’s like Israel sponsoring Palestinian civil rights week or BP sponsoring the 2011 exotic Caribbean bird show, it’s a farce. They should realise it take more than this to clear the slate. Bob Dylan once said “if you steal a little you go to jail, and if you steal a lot they’ll make you a king”.
My final recommendation before we congratulate ourselves with awards is that we listen to the most important people. The indigenous tribes people who live in, amongst and under nature call. We city dwellers are only good at some things and when it comes to translating nature’s conversation most of us are far too far removed to understand what it is saying. Find a collection of shaman from all over the world and add them to the debate, oh sorry I meant solution.
Thank you for reading what I have to say.
Finalist in Climate Week Awards (Best Artistic Response)
25 Mar 7:38pm
[...] has provoked comments from ambivalence to anger. Peter Lipman, Chair of Transition Network, has written about the moral dilemma of whether to accept the [...]