Welcome: This is our responsibility now...

Words / Ann Francke OBE

As CMI approaches its 75th anniversary, there’s one reality forcing us to reassess our leadership responsibilities

The CMI family operates all around the world. Climate change – and the measures agreed at COP26 to mitigate it – affect all of us.

Now that COP26 is over, a large part of the responsibility for climate action passes over to managers and leaders. Yes, the politicians will continue talking on a regular basis – and they have a lot of work still to do! – but it’s our job to start putting effective plans and actions in place.

In this CMI magazine, we’re taking a look at how managers can and should step up to this responsibility. Up until now, you may not have seen addressing the effects of climate change as a core part of your role; you may even feel that you don’t have the necessary knowledge. That is quite understandable. But, as our lead story argues, we all now need to educate ourselves, to start measuring and monitoring our organisation’s impact on the climate and, at least, to start taking small steps.

As CMI Companion Richard Nugee says in the piece, we also need to change our behaviours and mindsets. Leaders, he says, need to set “a clear narrative as to why we need to act”.

I really recommend Fiona Harvey’s article. She has been covering the environment and the impact of climate change on businessfor many years. As you’ll see, she literally had front-row access at COP26. She makes some powerful, practical points, particularly in conclusion: “Putting it off will be good for no one: not for the planet, not for your company, and certainly not for your career.”

If you don’t act, your employees may force you...

I’m sure there aren’t many CMI members who aren’t committed to making a positive impact when it comes to climate change. After all, there’s so much determination and conviction behind this and other causes that it will be very difficult for managers and leaders to remain bystanders.

You’ll also find a major feature piece in this edition about what employee activism means for you. The fact is, your colleagues aren’t robots; they’re real people who feel passionately about all sorts of causes and convictions. And trying to stamp out conversations about these issues is likely to have the opposite effect.

CMI has long advocated clear, honest communication between managers and team members. Today, those conversations need to embrace a much wider set of issues. Some of these – for example, race, the menopause and, again, climate change – may feel uncomfortable and difficult.

But we need to have these conversations, and CMI is here to help you engage with them in a well-informed and appropriate manner. We already have many resources to help managers and leaders address issues such as race, ethnicity, gender and disability. As we move into our 75th anniversary year, we’ll be building on these, and giving CMI members the tools you need to be a truly modern manager.

Finally, we’d love to get your input, so please join the conversation over on our 75th anniversary webpage.