Author: Helen Sieroda

Wise Goose Limited was created to take the interconnected challenges of wellbeing, social justice, and environmental destruction seriously within the field of coaching. We wanted to find a way of using our expertise in coaching, action inquiry, systemic thinking, and personal development to raise self-awareness and help coaches initiate conversations that include these wider issues.

We attract clients and students from businesses of all sizes, they come seeking meaningful work with relevance to the wider community. We aim to teach coaches skills and build their confidence to help individuals and organisations stretch thinking and close the gap between ideals about purposeful business, ‘making the world a better place’ and current reality in order to support delivery of extraordinary outcomes.

Our programmes are at the leading edge of a ‘pro-business pro-future’ vision of coaching. We hold conventional personal, performance and executive coaching approaches in a wider context – transforming the way we see ourselves and our place in the world, discovering a deeper more spacious context for work and life, contributing to a better world.

Here at Wise Goose we agree with WEFs statement ‘business as usual is no longer adequate for the challenges of 21^st Century’, and take a broad, long-term perspective towards creating profit through our business activities. Sustainability and ethical practice are integrated into our purposes and embedded in the services we provide. We use ‘Brundtland’s’ definition of sustainability, ‘development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs’.

As a micro business we actively promote good business in areas where we have influence, both in our internal operations and through wider stakeholders. We believe even the smallest businesses can play a role in improving quality of life, contributing to flourishing communities and planet.  As a small business we can often respond and adapt faster to the change than larger organisations with complicated supply chains. 

This policy is intended to be a living document, its purpose is to clarify our commitment towards ethical and environmentally sound practices both internally and externally. It begins with our values and how we put these into practice.

Internal/Environmental Impact

Wise Goose endeavors to optimize efficiency in our resource use and minimize environmental impact, in terms of CO2 emissions from transportation, energy consumption, and resource use/waste management. While it is not realistic for us to measure all our carbon impact due to the nature of our home-based office space, we actively take the following environmental considerations into account in decision making.

Travel:

• Reduce Flying: Journeys to Europe within a 500 mile radius will normally will be taken by train.
• For essential trips where alternatives are cost prohibitive, we use economy class (as it maximises the number of passengers that each flight can carry.) In last eight years we have reduced flights from 10 – 15 flights a year to 1- 3 or fewer.
• Reduce travel: avoid physically travelling to meetings where alternatives such as zoom or teams are available and practical.
• Due to our location on Dartmoor the opportunities to walk and/or use public transport are impractical. To counter this we work from home as much as possible.
• Record emissions for business travel to monitor our impact.

Energy:

• Energy supplier: We use Octopus 100% renewable electricity
• Insulation: Loft fully insulated
• Lighting: All bulbs are energy-saving.
• Appliances: Switched off when not in use.

Resource Use/Waste Management:

• Zero to landfill: we have conducted an internal audit of waste. We compost, recycle office consumables, reuse and donate to ‘Proper Job CIC’ local community reuse centre.
• Prevention: Purchase pre-loved office furniture where feasible or buy as environmentally sustainable as possible. Paper: we use as little paper as possible and reduce usage by double-siding. We use black and white ink rather than colour whenever possible.
• Reuse: Where necessary, we use recycled or FSC certified paper Encourage use of re-usable coffee cups etc. by trainers and students.
• Recycle: We have clear systems for recycling glass, paper, cardboard, tin, disposable plastic, batteries, printer cartridges etc. Compost all organic waste.
• Water use is minimal, we have measured water use.
• Use social media to advocate for SDGs and support/celebrate ‘good business’ practices of stakeholders and wider community.
• Offset remaining ‘invisible’ carbon footprint of consumption, necessary travel. We do this informally through our @treesforlifeuk Wise Goose Grove.

Purchasing/Procurement

Wise Goose is committed to minimise the social, environmental and ethical impacts of its supply chain.

We seek to purchase goods and services that minimise negative and enhance positive impacts on the environment and society whilst meeting our business requirements. We incorporate social, environmental and ethical considerations into all purchasing decisions, endeavoring to make a positive contribution to the environment and society. We purchase fair-trade and organic beverages from local suppliers and BCorp Origin Coffee.

Helen Sieroda as Director provides oversight with particular emphasis on:

• Encouraging continuous improvement.
• Measuring and monitoring the application of policies
• Conducting an environmental, social and ethical assessment of our key suppliers
• Sourcing local and sustainable suppliers to reduce carbon footprint.
• Working collaboratively with suppliers to improve environmental, social and ethical standards
• Protecting the confidentiality of information entrusted to us.
• Recognising and celebrating the supplier’s own standard where they are working to environmental, social and ethical standards

Reviewing and revising policies takes place on a biennial cycle (every 2 years.)

Main Facilitator/Training Service suppliers:

Our major procurement is of professional services and support. The coaching, facilitation and training services Wise Goose provides are often delivered by our Director supported by a pool of suppliers – our ‘associates’. We have actively chosen associates with track records in environmental, social and ethical performance with a preference for those from under represented communities (see biographies below). Our Advisory Board includes an ‘in house’ ethicist who advises, supports and challenges our director and provides support to students and graduates. This is, to our knowledge, unique in the field of coaching.

• Since 2013: Helen Sieroda is founder and director of Wise Goose School of Coaching, and co-founder Wise Thinking Partners. She is an Association of Professional Executive Coaches and Supervisors (APECS) accredited Master Executive coach.
• Since 2014 Diane Pitt: (in house ethicist) has been teaching Medical Ethics at postgraduate level for over fifteen years and has held research posts at the University of Hull in Philosophy and Bioethics while working on PhD research.
• Since 2017 Diana Whitmore: founder and director three successful educational charities over a thirty–five year period. Currently Director of the Ecologia Youth Trust and runs Growing2gether for young people, a resilience- based youth mentoring programme, which raises self-esteem, aspiration and educational attainment whilst re-engaging ‘at risk’ young people with their communities. 
• Since 2019 Dr Sybille Schiffmann Director Deostara part of team, collaboratively designed MSc in Management for a Sustainable Future with Marjon University Plymouth and consultant working principally with leaders in health and social care sectors, who are committed to creating broader and more purposeful impact, in line with their values. Her doctoral thesis explores deep participation and shared leadership, she is co-founder Wise Thinking Partners.
• Since 2019 Mary Culhane: digital marketing manager, has worked on projects raising environmental awareness, helping marginalised people to find their voice, promoting well-being for teenagers and supporting and developing community projects. Including local coordinator for Red Tent, to support and empower women and a local environmental group and social media for Dreadnought Southwest.
• Since 2023 Gary King & Lee Curtis: Gary is a psychologist and director of the consultancy Create Flow, where he facilitates leadership programmes focussed on positive change and sustainability. He has a literal degree in adventure with rich experiences in expeditions, helping shape and drive his interest in psychology, experiential learning, facilitating and coaching in nature. Lee has worked in the Creative industry in London for over 25 years as an artist, designer, creative director, mentor and coach. Art and culture are a core value for Lee. Appreciation of excellence and beauty is a main character strength. Creativity is at the centre of his life – Lee is always seeking the new and looking for inspiration.
• We also call on the other Training and Coaching suppliers as needed: Jonathan Gosling, Emeritus Professor of Leadership at Exeter University, visiting scholar at other universities including Bled, McGill, Monash, Renmin and UWE. He has taught and researched leadership for over 30 years and is now an independent academic and consultant at Pelumbra.com. He represented UK Universities at the Rio+20 UN Sustainability summit and contributes to the ‘greening’ of management education, e.g. as co-author of the text book Sustainable Business: a one planet approach and co-founder of One Planet Education Networks (OPEN). He received the ILA’s ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ in 2021. Miriam Gosling Gage; is a director of Pelumbra Ltd. She designs and facilitates leadership programmes and conferences for universities such as McGill (visiting professor), The RoundTables for Experienced Managers and The International Leadership Association. Miriam campaigns for Womens Equality Party and is co-founder Wise Thinking Partners.  Catherine Rees; is also co-founder of Wise Thinking Partners, she is a coach, coach supervisor and a former head teacher who now advises schools in Exeter and beyond and is a Green Councillor. Charles Wookey Trustee and Soulla Kyriacou COO Blueprint for Better Business: an independent charity whose purpose is to create a better society through better business. Blueprint helps business to be inspired and guided by a purpose that benefits society and respects people and planet.

Training Venue Suppliers:

• London supplier: Global Generation, an educational charity Founded in 2004, which works together with local children and young people, businesses, residents and families in Camden, Islington and Southwark to create healthy, integrated and environmentally responsible communities. Our work connects people of all ages to nature in the middle of the city.
• Devon Supplier: The Barefoot Barn, a small privately owned space used by the local community.

Giving

Every year we have a formal commitment to give to registered charities a minimum of 5% of our total profit as ‘in-kind’ donations of places on our training programmes. We are usually able to exceed this by giving over 10%

In addition to this formal commitment, we give:

• 20% reduction in fees to certified BCorps, graduates of MSc Responsibility in Business Practice (University of Bath)  & graduates of MSc Sustainability and Responsibility (Ashridge Business School.)

• 5% bursary places to social enterprise or other individuals working in social/environmental field who can make good use of a coaching approach in their teams/organizational culture.

• Finally, on a case-by-case basis and if resources permit, we do our best to offer bursaries to other candidates who cannot pay full fee.

Business Responsibilities:

 Wise Goose strives to be stable and profitable, applying good business practice while resisting pressure to see economic growth as sole value and driver of success.

 All operations comply with recognized good professional coaching practice, as stated in our Code of Conduct and Association for Coaching (AC) Global Code of Ethics. All our students become members of the AC and subscribe to this code of ethics. We encourage them to maintain membership as graduates. In addition the Director  is an accredited master coach and also subscribes to APECS code of ethics.

Quality Assurance/Trainer Enhancement:

Quality assurance at Wise Goose is designed to enhance the quality of all training and facilitation roles related to the programme.  It helps raise standards, provide support, increase work satisfaction and enhance professionalism and expertise. Our quality assurance vision is to provide both a nurturing and developmental support mechanism for ongoing reflexivity, training and personal development to our trainers. This policy is built upon:

• A commitment to high standards of professional accountability
• A commitment to working to evoke the potential of all who work with Wise Goose.
• A balance of self assessment, peer appraisal and a supportive and dialogue with senior management.
• An aspiration to balance a compassionate recognition of human fallibility with a rigorous commitment to achieving excellence and improving quality.

Our aim is to provide a space to explore, grow and learn in order to fulfil our mission to deliver a high quality coaching training programmes. Wise Goose is committed to ensuring the quality assurance process is carried out fairly in line with 2010 Equalities Act. All quality assurers will:

• execute the role with professionalism, integrity and courtesy
• evaluate objectively
• report accurately and fairly
• respect the confidentiality of the information gained and within the groups observed
• The Director monitors the process, outcomes and effectiveness of quality assurance arrangements.

Wider Community Membership

• AC (Association for Coaching) Member
• APECS (Association of Professional Executive Coaches & Supervisors) membership
• Climate Coaching Alliance CCA
• Eco Leadership Institute
• Inner Development Goals Network
  

Ethical Marketing

At Wise Goose, we are committed to ethical marketing practices that build trust, foster genuine connections, and create a positive impact. This includes and goes beyond GDPR and legal compliance. Our policy is guided by the following principles:

1. Genuine Engagement

• Interact with our audience sincerely and meaningfully.
• View clients and students as individuals with unique needs and aspirations.

2. Two-Way Communication

• Encourage open dialogue and feedback.
• Create platforms for discussion and actively listen to our clients.

3. Transparent Practices

• Be clear about our coaching methods, pricing, and expectations.
• Avoid making exaggerated claims or promises.
• Share authentic stories that highlight our values and impact.
• Use real-life examples and testimonials to illustrate our services.
• Promote ethical behaviour and avoid greenwashing.

4. Community Building

• Foster a supportive environment where stakeholders feel connected and valued.
• Respect the basic human dignity of stakeholders
• Organize regular events, online groups, and collaborative projects.

5. Education and Expertise

• Share knowledge that addresses the needs of our audience through social media, blogs, articles, webinars, and workshops.

6. Demonstrating Expertise

• Clearly communicate our areas of expertise and how they align with client needs.
• Showcase specialized knowledge to attract clients seeking specific solutions.

7. Authenticity

• Build our brand on genuine strengths and achievements.
• Avoid inflated claims and focus on delivering real value.

By following these principles, Wise Goose aims to create a marketing strategy that is both effective and ethical, fostering lasting relationships with our clients and contributing to a better world. We will evaluate the effectiveness of this on an ongoing basis, to ensure that it remains effective and reflects best practice. For more detail about the values and principles underpinning our approach to marketing see our post on this topic.

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Businesses today face increasing tension between serving immediate stakeholders—investors, customers, employees—and addressing broader impacts on future generations and ecosystems. The SDGs offer guidance, but real-world priorities often conflict, and there are no simple answers for leaders.

Despite efforts to promote inclusivity, many organisations have limited opportunities for genuine cross-cultural interaction, leading to isolation and a lack of engagement with diverse perspectives. This trend can make leaders more comfortable, but it hinders their ability to navigate complex global challenges.

Similarly, INGOs and public organisations are grappling with shifts in authority and trust, as well as the rise of localism over traditional hierarchies. This calls for leaders to listen, understand, and respond with greater wisdom and empathy.

The program offers a co-coaching and peer-learning experience for managers and leaders from around the world. It focuses on the lived experiences of taking responsibility and authority in diverse cultural and social contexts, helping participants develop leadership skills that balance global responsibility with local action. This program unites leaders worldwide in a journey of growth and collaboration. Join this global community to enhance your leadership skills and make a positive impact on our planet.

We are delighted to share Wise Goose graduate, Julia Forster’s coaching story. Julia coaches emergent and established writers and offers writer retreats in the Writers’ Cabin. Here at wise Goose we don’t believe ‘one size fits all’ when it comes to coaching, and definitely don’t want our programme to be a ‘coach sausage machine’! So during our training we encourage students to find their own coaching voice and niche – Julia has done exactly that.

During that first, long lockdown, I took part in a week-long ‘Work that Reconnects’ virtual retreat informed by Joanna Macy’s work. I was able to tune into the very particular frequency of the square mile I live in, just outside Machynlleth, mid-Wales. 

As part of the retreat, we were encouraged to meditate at a sit-spot and reflect on how our skills might meet the world’s deep hunger. I chose to meditate by the river Crewi which trickles along the bottom of the valley, and it was there that I struck upon the idea of training as a coach and specialising in working with authors.

After the retreat, I signed up to a virtual ‘Introduction to Coaching’ course offered by Cult Cymru. During that course, I realised just how pertinent and powerful the modality of coaching could be within the field of writer development.

As a young writer and graduate of both Undergraduate and Masters programmes in Creative Writing, we were taught about craft and technique, but it was rare for students to discuss the habitual challenges jobbing writers face: writers’ block, procrastination, the inner critic, imposter phenomenon…

After just six practice hours of coaching, I could already see how apt an intervention coaching was for authors facing these challenges, and many more besides.

My next step was to take a qualification in the Analytic-Network Systems approach run by Dr Simon Western. I completed that course fired up with a desire to fill in the gaps in my knowledge and to lay a firm groundwork within my portfolio of coaching skills.

Attending several introductory sessions for coaching schools, it was the Wise Goose School which stood out, not least because Helen Sieroda, who directs the programme, had given up her Saturday morning to run the session herself.

Additionally, I’d always wanted to visit Findhorn, a community not unlike the Centre for Alternative Technology which was one of the reasons I’d chosen to move to Machynlleth. Findhorn was where our Foundations course was to be held – but sadly another national lockdown intervened. Despite that, the fact that Wise Goose used it as a venue signposted to me their organisational values, which I felt were closely aligned with my own.

The gestation and articulation of my new outfit Write Within during the Wise Goose programme was an iterative process which ran parallel to my training. As a creative writer, reflective practice wasn’t a foreign concept to me, and bringing this into the realms of business development – a creative act in itself – helped me to overcome various blocks and challenges along the way.

I wanted the concept of Write Within to encapsulate all of my passions within writer development. This meant an offering that wasn’t necessarily going to fit into a conventional idea of a coaching programme. I wanted to bring a unique blend, something Helen actively encouraged us to reflect on and to discover for ourselves. I also resisted the idea of becoming ‘too slick’, and instead preferred to stay as authentic as possible.

Getting to know the coaches Jackee Holder and Fi Parashar, author of A Beautiful Way to Coach, at a weekly women’s co-writing group they co-facilitate inspired me to strike out with something a little bit different. I also took my lead from the Chuckling Goat entrepreneur Shann Nix Jones who offered a fantastic 13-week online course to accompany her book How to Start a Business from Your Business Table which I read and followed assiduously.

As I burrowed deeper into my particular field and developed my coaching business, I realised I wanted Write Within to:

• Offer author coaching packages which replicated the soulful approach of Wise Goose
• Share in the abundance of the Dyfi Biosphere we are lucky enough to call home by building a physical retreat space where guests could write their works-in-progress in peace
• Give back by creating an annual writer’s residency for a writer of minoritized identity

Meanwhile, the woodland opposite our plot of land was ear-marked for felling due to the spread of the phytophthora disease which was threatening larch trees across the country.

I started to dream into what kind of space might unlock and foster creativity, and how the conditions inside could support a writer on retreat. I didn’t need to turn far.

In nearby Bishop’s Castle, Shropshire, the Poetry Pharmacy sold not only items for me to accessorize the Writers’ Cabin with but also, very generously, they offered a space in which I ran two six-month and low-cost Coaching Clinics for Creatives. I completed 18 hours of my portfolio coaching practice within the Pharmacy – which now boasts an outpost on Oxford Street, London, in the flagship Lush cosmetics store.

The support of my Learning Group continues beyond achieving the Advanced Coaching Diploma – the four of us still meet monthly and I suspect we are likely to meet for many months to come. I couldn’t have achieved my goal without the support of Annette, Alan and Vicki. We held each other gently accountable and cheered one another one throughout our journey with Wise Goose. We’ve taken flight together.

Back in May, I visited Stockholm to launch a book and to reconnect with old colleagues and students. While there I was invited to co-lead a workshop on the potential of the Inner Development Goals (IDGs) to bridge the expertise of a community of psychosynthesis practitioners with the worlds of sustainability, business and leadership.  The workshop title was ‘Doors to Be Opened’.  

The buzz in the room that morning was great. The deep interest of this gathering of consultants, businesspeople, creatives, coaches and psychotherapists both energising and inspiring. By the time I got home I’d decided to see if anyone in our UK Wise Goose community wanted to explore ‘opening doors’ here by setting up an IDG hub. Since then, behind the scenes we have been busy co-creating Wise Thinking Partners – you can meet the team here.

 We are excited by the potential of the IDGs to contribute to purpose led, sustainable communities and organisations. The goals help us do this by putting the inner dimension on the map, providing an accessible language and framework for the transformative skills and qualities needed to develop our inner capacity to deal with today’s increasingly complex environments and challenges. Find out more and follow us on linkedin.

Worldwide we have known about sustainability challenges for decades, the Sustainable Development Goals or ‘Global Goals’ give a blueprint and shared vision and for peace and prosperity for people and the planet. But despite our knowledge not enough is being done to address pressing issues.  The IDG initiative is a response to the lack of progress, it maintains that part of the reason for this failure of progress is that most of us, especially leaders, need to be, think, relate, collaborate, and act differently.  

How does this fit with Wise Goose?

Wise Goose was hatched over a decade ago out of the belief that we as individuals can influence a lot, and that coaching can have a role in supporting people in developing the self-awareness, communication skills, capacity for complex thinking and leadership that’s essential if we are to contribute to the larger systemic changes.  The IDG framework fits seamlessly with the coaching and training we have delivered from the start. We believe we have experience and expertise to contribute to the IDG initiative, as well as a lot to learn together with those who join us in our hub.

And finally, ‘Wise Thinking Partners’ is another way of showing our commitment to ‘walking the talk’ as a BCorp, where our certification is underpinned by the Sustainable Development Goals.

So, what will our ‘Wise Thinking Partners’ IDG hub do? We aim to:

• Bring people together around collective exploration and action.
• Learn, innovate, prototype, practice and share application of tools.
• Create local events, action days or programs to support further activities within the Hub.
• Ally with partner organisations to help fund local and/or global development of IDG.
• Share stories, recordings of lectures, event designs and presentations with local and global communities.

Next Steps…..

5th December – save the date!

The launch of our hub coincides with COP28 climate summit.  Come along to explore and play. We invite the curious to a place free from expectations. A space to share your wise thinking and learn together how to make business, organisations and communities stronger for a better planet. Register here

Can’t make it this time? To hear about future events follow us on linkedin

Contact Wise Thinking Partners

We’d love to hear from you. You can send us a message if you have any questions. info@wisethinkingpartners.org

How should we think about addressing climate change?

But what about other ways of thinking about solutions to the issues?  Amid all the noise, and with so many points of view vying for attention how do I make sense of my place in relation to it all?

Over these days as I watched the news, and published the posts, I noticed different ways of thinking emerge as different contributors from different worlds offered their thoughts about questions raised by the climate catastrophe.

As I tried to make sense of the voices I remembered coming across a paper by political theorist John Dryzek, this was back in 2007 while studying for a MSc in Responsibility and Business Practice.  It helped me understand and untangle different ways of thinking and talking about environmental challenges.  Dryzek argued that environmental discourses fall into four different buckets (my image not his!) or discourses, either reformist or radical, and either prosaic or imaginative.

The top left, prosaic and reformist frames the challenge within the current economic and social worldview. In other words, we need to tweak business as usual but basically can trust technology and markets to rise to the challenge and fix things. This was the loudest voice inside COP.

Top right, prosaic and radical on the other hand argues that there are limits to growth on a finite planet and to avoid disaster we must cut back economic activity. This might look like the call to rethink Christmas that just dropped in my inbox today, to reduce consumption.

In the bottom left ‘bucket’ the reformist and imaginative discourse operates largely within the ideals, values and worldview of current consumer-capitalist mindset, saying we need to do business better. Tackle things more creatively and intelligently, cradle to cradle, regenerative design fits here.

Finally, bottom right, the imaginative and radical approach seeks to shift consciousness, transforming the way we experience ourselves and the planet. Here all life is seen to have value in and of itself, not just as a resource for humans to utilise. This ‘deep green’ approach might involve a panpsychic perspective. In their beautiful pamphlet ‘On Sentience’ Peter Reason and Sarah Gillespie put it this way: “What would it be like to live in a world of sentient beings rather than inert objects? How would we relate to such a world?” This discourse can take a spiritual turn, seeing the sacred or divine immanent in the earth. A key movement here is in a shift of identity from a separate self, towards a connected self, what is sometimes called an ‘ecological self.’

Though these different ways of seeing the climate crisis and the best way to tackle it can and overlap, they are often in conflict and competition with each other.  Think of the activists protesting outside COP26, angry with the prosaic reformist inside, or those inside wanting them to ‘go away’ so they can get on with the hard work of fixing the problem. Or, as we heard in posts here a cynical ‘your are away with the fairies’ or ‘in Narnia’ – a bemused ‘what’s the point’ of any of this in the context of business or a school of management?  

I didn’t organise the way different discourses presented themselves over these two weeks, but reading back it looks like I might have. Perhaps it’s because most of us are dipping our hands into more than one ‘bucket’ as we go about our professional and personal lives, giving us access to different ways of thinking.  I can easily name organisations and people I work with from all four discourses. This gives me hope, the challenges we face are complex, far reaching and systemic, we need to recognise, understand, accept, include, and co-ordinate all of these approaches. I have my own preferences and perspectives, but if we are to have any hope of tackling the challenges we’d best stop bickering among ourselves to link arms and work together.    

Dryzek’s analysis is useful, but I’d like to offer another way of expressing this, from Joanna Macy and Chris Johnstone in Active Hope https://www.activehope.info/the-book

They outline three dimensions of work that needs to be done to turn around the climate crisis: Holding Actions, Life-Sustaining Systems and Practices and Shift in Consciousness. They are mutually reinforcing and equally necessary, each one leads into the others.

Holding Actions focus on holding back and slowing down the damage being caused by ‘business as usual’. This can include raising awareness of issues, as well as direct action and protest. These voices are often outside conference rooms, out on the streets. The goal here is to protect what remains. Holding actions are essential; they save lives, species and ecosystems. But, though protest is vital, they point out that on their own, these actions are not enough. Along with stopping the damage, we need to replace or transform the systems and institutions that cause the harm.

Life-Sustaining Systems and Practices involve rethinking the way we do things, redesigning of the structures and systems that make up our society. The green shoots of these practices are all around us. We can all support and participate through our choices about how to travel, where to spend our money, what to eat, where to save. Social enterprises, sustainable agriculture, green energy and investing, all are small steps that contribute to the creation of a life-sustaining society. But like holding actions, by themselves they are not enough. These new structures won’t take root and survive without deeply ingrained values to sustain them.

Shift in Consciousness involves a deep transformation from the hyper-individualism that’s become a hallmark of a ‘business as usual’ mindset, to a deepening of our sense of belonging in the world. This is the emergence of a more connected and compassionate sense of identity. This shift in consciousness involves our hearts, our minds, and our views of reality. For me, the practice of paying attention to small things, here, with care, in this place, keeps my sense of belonging in the world alive and fresh, giving me the energy and nourishment I need to do the work I do out in the world. Chris and Joanna call this “the inner frontier of change, the personal and spiritual development that enriches and deepens our capacity and desire to act for our world.”

I hope you’ve enjoyed some of the ‘Thoughts for the Day’ we’ve offered over the past 14 days – I’m going to take a break, head up to the allotment and be quiet now!

Management for a Sustainable Future

Todays Thought for the Day comes from Sybille Schiffmann. Sybille is Chair and a trainer here at Wise Goose and part of a team at Marjon University who have been collaboratively designing a new MSc in Management for a Sustainable Future. https://www.marjon.ac.uk/courses/msc-management-sustainable/

In my work with leaders from business and the social sector who are currently studying on Marjon’s MSc Management for a Sustainable Future, the question above is particularly relevant. 

At its heart it is about taking on new responsibilities, concerns for other people, and for our environment, while weighing those concerns directly against our self-interest and in relation to the primary activities, undertaken by our businesses and organisations.

It becomes a question of leadership – responsible leadership in other words.

As I work with students who have committed to this quite demanding path of study, while holding down their existing full-time jobs, I am really appreciating what a transformative journey this is for those individuals, as they seek to shift thinking and action in their workplaces, through the adoption and in time, integration of sustainable business practices.

Such responsible leadership requires far greater cognitive understanding of the complexities of addressing sustainability matters. As one small business leader, who produces sustainable swimwear while actively adhering to Circular Economic Principles and practices put it: “The easiest and most sustainable thing to do would be not to set up and run a business at all”.

Responsible leadership also involves being visionary in the sense of waking others up to the future that is being debated furiously at COP 26, and to help orientate others in their workplaces towards potentially very different business activities, or entirely new business ventures for that matter.

My hope for our leaders on this programme is that they fully embrace their unique potential to create a positive difference, and impact, for the people, or customers they serve and for the planet they inhabit; be that large or small.

Their job moving forward is to “ build muscle” as Mary Gentile puts it and apply ethical decision-making in their workplaces. All this while facing the demands and challenges of day to day business as usual, where they must now present the ‘voice’ for those environmental and societal stakeholders not conventionally represented on the Balance Sheet, or the Profit and Loss account.

In essence they are creating the path to new possibilities, new products, services or even whole new ways of doing business. Walking this path requires restless curiosity, resilience, courage and a willingness to act at times contrary to the status quo; or as Jacob Bronowski once said “It is important that students bring a certain ragamuffin, barefoot irreverence to their studies; they are not here to worship what is known, but to question it.”

It is a great pleasure to be on this journey with them.

Another quote that aptly describe the mind and heart of our students:

“The world can only be grasped by action, not by contemplation.”

Jacob Bronowski