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NEW YORK, June 16, 2020 /PRNewswire=KYODO JBN/--

-- First-of-its-kind report defines the unique characteristics possessed by

sustainable business leaders and urges a radical re-think on how C-suite and

board leaders are selected

The United Nations Global Compact today launched the "Leadership for the Decade

of Action" report in collaboration with Russell Reynolds Associates, a leading

leadership advisory and search firm.

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The report sets out to discover what can be learned from business leaders who

are integrating sustainability across strategy, operations and stakeholder

engagement and what this means for how board and C-suite leaders are selected.

It reveals an urgent need for transformational business leaders who look beyond

near-term profits to make the long-term sustainability and resilience of our

world a top business priority—both within and beyond their firms and broader

ecosystems.

The report will be presented by Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director, United

Nations Global Compact, and Clarke Murphy, CEO, Russell Reynolds Associates, at

the UN Global Compact 20th Anniversary Leaders Summit on 15 June. Their

presentation will be followed by a panel discussion with Jim Hagemann Snabe,

Chairman, Maersk and Siemens and Ilian Mihov, Dean, INSEAD. Further details can

be found here.

The world is not on track to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals by 2030

and the COVID-19 pandemic has further exposed the fundamental weaknesses in our

global systems. There is now a significant opportunity for boards and C-suite

leaders to place sustainability at the center of corporate purpose and

strategy. However, analysis by Russell Reynolds Associates reveals that

sustainability experience or mindset is a requirement in only 4 percent of

non-executive and senior executive appointments today.

Lise Kingo, CEO and Executive Director of the UN Global Compact, said:

"Transforming our world is all about leadership. As we set out to recover

better from COVID-19, the fragile nature of our progress to meet the 2030

deadline to transform our world means that incorporating sustainability across

business strategy and operations is not only the right thing to do, it's the

smart thing to do. Enlightened CEOs and board members know that to succeed you

need to be sustainable. We need leaders everywhere to step up their ambition

and become agents for sustainable change. This is the moment for top management

and boards to ensure that these critical competencies are represented and

developed across the organization."

Clarke Murphy, Chief Executive Officer of Russell Reynolds Associates, said:

"Sustainable leadership is not a 'nice to have'. It is a critical business

imperative, increasingly recognized by all stakeholders around the world,

including shareholders, consumers, employees, governments and communities. As

the COVID-19 crisis has laid bare, the business world has a critical role to

play in tackling the persisting challenges in our societies and economies. We

are calling for a new type of business leader--one who can drive long-term

growth by integrating sustainability into business strategy. Russell Reynolds

Associates will work with organizations to make sustainability part of the DNA

of their leadership teams."

To identify how organizations can make sustainability central to their

organization's culture and leadership, Russell Reynolds Associates and the UN

Global Compact carried out in-depth interviews and background analysis on a

group of close to 60 sustainability pioneers--CEOs and board members from

across continents and industries with a notable track record of focusing on and

making progress towards sustainability goals in tandem with commercial results.

The analysis defines the characteristics, actions and differentiating

leadership attributes that fuel sustainable leaders' success. They combine a

sustainable mindset with a set of differentiated leadership attributes:

    -- Multi-level systems thinking-They incorporate the interplay of

       business, societal and environmental systems and drive decisions that

       turn sustainability into a competitive advantage.

    -- Stakeholder influence-They do not seek to manage stakeholders, rather

       they actively include them in defining and actioning decisions.

    -- Disruptive innovation-They possess the courage to challenge

       traditional approaches and cut through bureaucracy to drive the

       disruptive innovation needed to do away with the profitability-

       sustainability trade-off.

    -- Long-term activation-They do not simply have an orientation towards

       the long term, they set bold sustainability goals and rigorously drive

       concerted action in their pursuit.

About the United Nations Global Compact As a special initiative of the UN

Secretary-General, the United Nations Global Compact is a call to companies

everywhere to align their operations and strategies with ten universal

principles in the areas of human rights, labour, environment and

anti-corruption. Launched in 2000, the mandate of the UN Global Compact is to

guide and support the global business community in advancing UN goals and

values through responsible corporate practices. With more than 10,000 companies

and 3,000 non- business signatories based in over 160 countries, and 68 Local

Networks, it is the largest corporate sustainability initiative in the world.

For more information, follow @globalcompact on social media and visit our

website at unglobalcompact.org

About Russell Reynolds Associates Russell Reynolds Associates is a global

leadership advisory and search firm. Our 470+ consultants in 46 offices work

with public, private and nonprofit organizations across all industries and

regions. We help our clients build teams of transformational leaders who can

meet today's challenges and anticipate the digital, economic and political

trends that are reshaping the global business environment. From helping boards

with their structure, culture and effectiveness to identifying, assessing and

defining the best leadership for organizations, our teams bring their decades

of expertise to help clients address their most complex leadership issues. We

exist to improve the way the world is led. www.russellreynolds.com

Media contacts:         

Russell Reynolds Associates

Amy Scissons Russell

+1-(212)-590-0460

amy.scissons@russellreynolds.com                           

UN GlobalCompact

Alex Gee

+44-7887-804594

alex@mackworthassociates.com;

Dan Thomas

+1-917-225-1913

thomas@unglobalcompact.org

SOURCE: Russell Reynolds Associates