"I see HR as having a distinctive competence which, aligned with the other parts of the organisation, can make the whole stronger."Paul Drechsler, chairman and chief executive of Wates Group, developed his leadership skills and vision through interactions with inspirational leaders and a supportive HR department during the early stages of his career at ICI. Today Paul, as the chairman and chief executive of Wates Group, gets energised when he sees how the values of his organisation are lived through its people. But having values alone is not enough – they need to be evidenced-based and leaders need to embody them in their actions. HR plays a fundamental role in bringing the different parts of the business together and even sometimes ensures that leaders live the values of their organisation.

Press release dated of 19 March 2012 From a Stewardship Working Party consisting of Aviva Investors, BlackRock, Governance for Owners, Railpen Investments, Ram Trust and USS supported by Tomorrow’s Company  Investors publish recommendations and road map for improving quality of stewardship

For our second 'Tomorrow's Adaptive Organisation' roundtable, Ian Powell, senior partner and chairman of PwC UK, shared his vision of leadership and culture with us.  Ian Powell told his story of being a leader in a professional services firm – how he is a ‘lifer’ at PwC, and gradually moved up through the organisation until he became chairman of the UK firm in 2008. Through his different experiences in varying roles, he developed his leadership approach based on authenticity and integrity.  The first part of the report develops his vision and culture of PwC, aiming to be iconic – ‘the number one in professional services, always front of mind’. The second part  focuses on the alignment between behaviours and values.

Boards are operating in ever more complex and challenging business environments. At the same time, their behaviour and standards are coming under increasing external scrutiny, for example through the Financial Reporting Council (FRC) and Walker Reviews in the UK. This publication champions the concept of a ‘mandate’ which sets out the ‘essence’ of the ‘character’ and distinctiveness of the company. We believe that this ‘working charter’ can help boards navigate their way through increasingly choppy waters by facilitating more effective strategic engagement: primarily between executive directors and NEDs to improve board effectiveness, but with the associated benefit that it drives communication externally with the key stakeholders, including investors, government and regulators, and society at large. Accompanying this document is a 'tool-kit' which provides an agenda for board discussions. Please download this here.  A series of case studies illustrating how the board mandate may,...

Natural capital – our ecosystems, biodiversity, and natural resources – underpins economies, societies and individual wellbeing. The values of its myriad benefits are, however, often overlooked or poorly understood. They are rarely taken fully into accountthrough economic signals in markets, or in day to day decisions by business and citizens, nor indeed reflected adequately in the accounts of society. The steady loss of forests, soils, wetlands and coral reefs is closely tied to this economic invisibility. So too are the losses of species and of productive assets like fisheries, driven partly by ignoring values beyond the immediate and private. We are running down our natural capital stock without understanding the value of what we are losing. Missed opportunities to invest in this natural capital contribute to the biodiversity crisisthat is becoming more evident and more pressing by the day. The degradation of soils, air, water and biological resources can negatively impact on...