Paul Polman Offers a Masterclass in Courageous Leadership

The world is at a crossroads. In the words of former Unilever CEO and best-selling author Paul Polman, we’re facing the perfect storm of environmental collapse, economic volatility, geopolitical instability, widening social inequality, and technological revolution. While the threat of climate change looms, the world is facing a fundamental reconfiguration. The tipping point is here, and we’re teetering on its edge. 

Despite all of this, Paul is optimistic — it’s essentially his trademark. There are encouraging developments, from $2.1 trillion invested in green conversions last year (more than double what was spent on fossil fuels), 95 percent of CEOs committing to build more resilient business models, and growth in renewable energy capacity. Green energy initiatives have created 3.5 million jobs in the U.S. alone, and the green economy is expected to continue growing from $5 trillion to $14 trillion by 2030.

We hosted the visionary purpose-driven executive and co-author of "Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take" as a guest to celebrate the 200th episode of the Purpose 360 podcast, where he shared guidance for courageous leadership in even the most challenging circumstances. 

Lessons from Pope Francis: The moral leadership imperative

Our conversation followed the passing of Pope Francis, who Paul Polman considered a profound example of moral leadership. In a world of fractured leadership, Pope Francis reminded us of a deeply human truth: that we belong to each other. 

Pope Francis was “a source of inspiration,” “a beacon of hope” and a “moral compass” for society, reminding us that economic systems must be designed to uphold both human dignity and planetary health, Polman said. In an example for leaders to follow, Pope Francis was “a voice for the youth…a voice for planet Earth…a voice for future generations,” who always used his position to advocate for what matters most. 

The ABCs of transformational leadership

The “ABCs of leadership” are a particularly vital framework at the heart of Paul’s message. He suggests that leaders:

• Adapt: Seek to understand different perspectives and opposing viewpoints. By trying to understand the factors driving others’ concerns, we can more successfully adapt our approaches. 
• Bridge: The middle 80 percent of people have far more in common than the media (including social media) suggests. Leaders should focus on what unites us to build bridges across divides. 
• Cooperate: The complex challenges of today can’t be solved alone. Advance solutions-oriented approaches and address them through stakeholder coalitions. 

Putting humanity at the center of business

Nearly every business in existence was created to solve societal problems, not create them. Some of the greatest businesses in history were founded to address human needs, like Lord Lever’s invention of bar soap to manage hygiene in the Victorian era — the founding product behind today’s Unilever. 

“Profits or shareholder value are a little bit like white blood cells in our bodies," Polman said. "We need white blood cells to live … but we don’t live for white blood cells. You don’t meet people and say, ‘How are your white blood cells today?’” Similarly, Paul believes in embedding the golden rule into business principles: “Do unto others and the planet as you would have done unto yourselves.”

Inner strength is the foundation of leadership

Rumi famously said, “Yesterday, I was clever. I wanted to change the world. Today, I am wise. I’m changing myself.” More words to live by, according to Polman, as he believes effective leadership begins with personal development. This inner work has always been a driving force behind Paul’s own leadership style.

“We’ve become human doings versus human beings,” he said. “Most of the issues that we need to solve first and foremost require our own resilience.”

Resiliency, he said, has multiple dimensions: physical resilience, emotional resilience, mental resilience, and the spiritual resilience tied to one's core purpose. He believes that resiliency goes hand-in-hand with trust, which in turn leads to the magic of putting humanity back into business and leadership.

When he brings food company executives to his farm in England, they “put the boots on, walk the land, touch the animals, and it just changes a human being.” Reconnecting leaders to their humanity helps them get to the core of who they are, what their strengths are, and where they need to improve. 

Facing pushback with courage

In recent years, the terms ESG (referring to corporate environmental, social and governance principles) and DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) — along with all of the actions that fall under those acronyms — have become fiercely politicized. Paul’s response and advice to leaders is pragmatic:

• Stay true to your values and purpose as an organization. 
• Be humble and recognize when previous efforts weren’t as effective as they could have been.
• Avoid silence, which nods to complicity. If speaking out alone is difficult, find others to support your voice.
• When you must, control the narrative instead of letting narrow self-interests drive it.

Ultimately, he warns against “risk aversion dressed up as pragmatism,” and calls for “moral clarity, not just managerial competencies.” That means leaders who are wondering if they should withdraw ESG or DEI efforts should deeply consider their values. Are they worth abandoning? “I haven’t met CEOs who want more air pollution or more unemployment, more people going to bed hungry, more destruction of biodiversity,” Polman said. “It simply doesn’t exist. But then why collectively are we behaving like this? It’s because of the boundaries in which we operate.”

Transformational leaders, then, are tasked with shifting those boundaries — standing up against short-termism driven by financial markets and instead valuing natural capital. This demonstrates moral clarity alongside managerial competence, Polman said.

Storytelling is a powerful tool

Beyond just controlling the narrative, real leaders are storytellers. In an increasingly polarized climate, it can be tempting to say nothing, or shrink and allow others to control the conversation. “There's a narrative being created here, and we start to believe this narrative," Polman said.

Things might not be where we hoped, but these are exactly the moments to share progress and plans. "We are moving forward," Polman continued. "We're moving to a society that is free from air pollution. We're moving to a society that can get affordable energy for everybody. We're moving to a society where there is political security because you are energy independent."

To illustrate the power of storytelling, he shared a wonderful personal reflection:  “In the many stories I’ve read to my children and grandchildren, there's not a single story that ends with … and  the hero gave up." He asked: So have our heroes given up, or do you still feel others marching with you? "[Maybe] we'll change the terminology," he said, referring to shifts away from politicized acronyms like ESG or DEI, "but we'll continue the work."

Real leaders don’t abandon their goals or their values when things get tough — they just adapt, finding new ways to communicate or advance progress. 

Paul Polman on the responsibility of privilege

If you have clean water, a roof over your head, an education, food security and healthcare, you have “won the lottery ticket of life,” Polman said. With this privilege comes responsibility to serve the 95 percent of the global population that doesn’t have one or more of these privileges. “A world that is not inclusive, where we don’t ensure that more people can participate in this wonderful economic system … will never function,” he told us.

Paul’s insights are both an inspiration and a challenge — to build better businesses, to serve society, and to be more human in all that we do. “The world we want will only be achieved when we choose action over indifference, courage over comfort, and solidarity over division.”

Listen to the full conversation with Paul Polman here.