Living in COVID, we were all were forced to cope with an unprecedented experience. No one ever was forced to live through a pandemic, and for those such as myself in leadership, we were faced with a plethora of emotional upheavals, daily changes, uphill obstacles, and no apparent expiration date to this life-altering experience. We all seemed to be building an airplane while in the air with no playbook. As life and the natural things we were accustomed to appeared to return back to a semblance of normalcy, we were then able to look back and glean from this multi-year disruption with a new path forward and a lot to ruminate over as we were faced with the challenge where do we go from here.<\/p>\n
Andrew N. Liveris\u2019 writing, Leading Through Disruptions A Changemakers Guide to Twenty First Century Leadership<\/em> is a book that postures readers and leaders on a path forward. Liveris is the former Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Dow Chemical Company and former Executive Chairman of DowDuPont. A top-tier global business leader with more than 4 decades at Dow and experience in manufacturing, engineering, sales, marketing, and business and general management. Detailing how the complexities of the 21st Century were unpredicted, he draws upon three major disruptions that he encountered as a CEO with four decades of experience; he shares insights on leading companies in an era of disruption and geopolitical uncertainty.<\/p>\n The premise of his book refers to the period after COVID-19 as the new abnormal stating, institutions cannot do what they used to do.<\/em> [1]<\/strong>\u00a0Liveris makes an argument for Inclusive Capitalism. He argues capitalism and democracy are not coexisting well. <\/em>[2]<\/strong> He believes that capitalism should be the lead responsibility of business as it is a trusted institution as government has persistently dropped the ball.<\/p>\n Acknowledging the tension in regulation Liveris states: Business and government don\u2019t understand each other. People working in the public sector don\u2019t understand business and people who work in the corporate environment only dimly understand the corporate sector<\/em>. [3]<\/strong><\/p>\n Similar to Polyani, Liveris calls for an embedding of different sorts through the use of ESG metrics. E stands for environmental,<\/em> S stands for social,<\/em> and G stands for governance.<\/em> Liveris was a member of an elite group called the B-Team, which looked at the global disruption caused by COVID and other events. When weighing the ESG metrics, the group came to some interesting discoveries.<\/p>\n 1) The current economic model has been broken and can\u2019t be fixed. Liveris uses a four D Model to sum up corporate responses to the disruption: denial, defiance, debate, and dialogue. As I read this, I noticed some commonalities with last week\u2019s reading. The group had some commonalities around regulation, touting that the government and banks were the beneficiaries of bailouts, but these entities failed to provide a safety net for workers. To counter this, Liveris suggests ESG metrics should be discussed at board levels using external experts. To create employee buy-in, he suggests when a plan is reached, don\u2019t share it immediately but instead apply new metrics to handle the disruption while experimenting with them for one to two years.<\/p>\n Calling it a broad mandate, Liveris believes that regulatory changes can create a more inclusive capitalism. To accomplish this, he suggests an all-encompassing approach, using methods such as raising the minimum wage, increasing business incentives to solve offshoring, making US income taxes more effective, and improving the American education system.<\/p>\n I enjoyed this book because, amidst today’s challenges, Liveris inserts practicality into the mix. As he talks about a new abnormal, I am reminded of how this disruption has caused seismic shifts that will posture us differently as a society. I am mindful as I seek solutions in my own context towards what lies ahead, I can say what got us here, will not get us there. As we attempt to navigate amidst a capitalistic and non-inclusive society, I am mindful of how Liveris is not lost on bringing equality and equity for others in the midst of it all from all sectors of life. Capitalism has many victims, but everyday people cannot be the ultimate casualty.<\/p>\n I am reminded of Jesus\u2019 statement in the gospel of Saint Matthew:<\/p>\n Then they also will answer, \u2018Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison and did not take care of you?\u2019 Then he will answer them, \u2018Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these, you did not do it to me. (Matthew 25;44-45, NRSV)<\/p>\n Liveris, Andrew. Leading through Disruption: A Changemaker\u2019s Guide to Twenty-First Century Leadership. (New York, NY: HarperCollins Leadership, 2023).<\/p>\n [2] Andrew Liveris, Leading Through Disruption, 29.<\/p>\n [3] Andrew Liveris, 164.<\/p>\n [4] Andrew Liveris, 2.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Living in COVID, we were all were forced to cope with an unprecedented experience. 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\n2) A model that business should be motivated by profit is a method\u2013 that no longer works. [4]<\/strong><\/p>\n