Gorillas Can Dance

CHAPTER SIXPARTNERING WITH STARTUPS AS A FORCE FOR GOOD

CEOs who quickly adopt a 360-degree view and become more attuned to their employees, value chains, and wider society will maneuver with a degree of sensitivity and humanity not open to those still focused solely on narrow financial returns.

– Paul Polman, ex-CEO of Unilever and Co-founder and Chair, IMAGINE¹

DANCING WITH GORILLAS FOR THE SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT GOALS

Many corporations are mindful about making a societal impact by helping to achieve the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that member states of the United Nations agreed in September 2015 to pursue, with a view to achieving them by 2030. Even before 2020 was overwhelmed by the Covid-19 pandemic, a clear intent to have social impact could be seen in the activities of many companies. While in some cases the companies are merely paying lip service, there are also clear examples of corporate leaders who have conveyed their commitment to sustainable development so vociferously that it's hard to doubt their sincerity. Royal DSM's honorary chairman, Feike Sijbesma, is unequivocal: “Delivering on the SDGs, the Global Goals, is a responsibility for all of us.”² The Covid-19 pandemic arguably heightened this sense of societal orientation among responsible leaders. Paul Polman, ex-CEO of Unilever, who has consistently advocated a greater socially responsible role for business, observed: “The world which emerges from this COVID-19 crisis will look different… ...