Hi, and welcome to my lunch table. I'm Simon Hague, and as ever, I'm thrilled to have you with me, even if it's just for a short bite sized break for the day. This is where purpose-driven Leadership meets practical Action, where we take insightful chats that can take you back to the office. And think about things differently over your next break, so there's no fluff and it's just a bit of forward thinking. Now, today, I want to dive into a shift that's needed to help reshape the way we think about our business, and it's one that is long overdue. So let me start with this. What if ESG. Wasn't something we pay attention to out of obligation, but something that could actually reshape the core strategy of the business.'cause frankly, if your organization still sees environmental, social, and governance responsibilities as a checklist, you're not just behind. You're missing the real opportunity to lead. So let's get into the meat of this podcast. For years, ESG has been stuck in compliance mode, often reduced to a set of regulatory hoops, annual disclosures, and dare I say it, marketing materials. But it, that's changing. Okay, so we're starting to see that the ESG imperative. Is starting to get adopted by forward thinking and forward looking companies. They're starting to move from reactive compliance to proactive ESG integration. This is big. Yeah. It signals a maturation in how businesses are thinking about sustainability and responsibility. It's not about avoiding penalties anymore, it's about unlocking process. We are now witnessing a mindset shift. Instead of ticking the boxes, progressive companies are thinking more about how to directly build it into the heart of their business model. So influencing decisions such as investments, innovation, and culture. Why? Because what we're finding is that if we adopt ESG strategically, that really drives results. It reduces risk, yeah. But it also opens up competitive advantage in the future focused markets. In fact, what we're starting to see is that. 2025 is being forecast as a year where ESG is becoming more embedded in those more successful companies. So let's just think about then how we can treat ESG as a core business driver rather than just this external mandate, this tick box, this greenwash that potentially has been managed in the past. There are some real tangible benefits. So firstly, innovation. Purpose unlocks creativity. Think of how companies have harnessed sustainability to reimagine their products. Think about your reputation as a secondary. Employees, consumers, investors now really do get what authenticity is about. We are also finding that younger generations are taking decisions about who they buy from indeed, who they wanna work for. By what the ESG policies are, that company has. We see ESG savvy firms going into new geographies and have new revenue streams, which potentially has not been open to them before. So this market expansion capability is something which is certainly, we're also finding that as we become more aware of the complete picture, the complete system that's around us. We actually start to mitigate risk. Everything from supply chain volatility to maybe climate related risks are reduced by more conscious planning. So what's the Standable Sta for you so far and what you've seen? De Deloitte have found that as of this year, 91% of CEOs are reassessing their ESG policies and 39% of them are saying they're genuinely spending more time listening to employees and to customers. Why? Because stakeholders are getting savvy. They're understanding what greenwashing actually is, and most investors and. Company. People who are interested in the company can smell greenwashing a mile off. So this brings us nicely to our last point. How do leaders move from, well word admission statements to outcomes that actually matter. So here's what we're seeing from conscious CEOs heading into 2025. First. They're aligning ESG goals with business outcomes and KPIs, not treating them as separate or nice to have. In an example, thinking about my business, I'm recently moving supplier of broadband services from a company which has higher ESG capability than my existing supplier, and that to me was a very easy decision to take Second. Conscious CEOs are actively engaging with stakeholders. They're building feedback loops with employees and customers to prioritize what values most to them. So not just globally, not just the global position, but thinking about what happens to those particular key stakeholders. Third, we're moving beyond just the carbon tunnel vision. Okay, so let's not get this wrong. Carbon is really important. Yeah, and cutting emissions is vital. I know this is quite a contentious issue in the world at the moment, but what we're seeing is that high performing companies are now using complex frameworks to track BioD device biodiversity, water use, land impact, and even social equity. So the World Economics Forums 2024 guidance moves, ESG from being carbon focused to being planet and people attuned. So there's some really good stuff going on in this space, which we need to start taking notice of. Maybe what we need to now think about are three specific actions that we can take if we want to embed ESG into our business and start taking some amazing advantage of it. So firstly, where are you within your process on ESG? So. Maybe a first step could be to audit your existing ESG metrics. Are they actually aligned to your strategy or are you ticking them in a box to the minimum standard? Perhaps holder a multi-stakeholder meeting. Bring in frontline staff. People are dealing with customers, the customers and partners, and ask them, so what matters most to you? And we need to adopt a broader framework. We need to explore PLA platforms that track not only your carbon footprint, but maybe fresh water use biodiversity and other social equity benchmarks. McKinsey, WEF, and B Corps all offer good starting points here. So remember that ESG isn't a department, it isn't a report. It's actually a strategic direction for your business. So to wrap things up here. The shift from a reactive compliance to proactive integration isn't just timely, okay? It's transformative. ESG is no longer about looking responsible. It's about being effective in a fast changing world. I. The smartest businesses, those aiming to stay relevant in 2025 and beyond aren't just asking whether they have to do ESG. They're asking, how can we turn ESG into a superpower? So let's stop treating purpose and profit as opposites done. Their great partners. So you've got a few things to think about here. You've got a few actions to think about for your business about how you can embed ESGA bit more into your business to be able to take some of the advantages that this offers. But one of the things I'm really keen to understand from you is maybe some of the granular details. So please do email me through Simon at Conscious Coaching. Co UK with some of the things that you're working on. It'd be great to be able to hear you and perhaps have a conversation, maybe bring you on to a podcast in the future to explore a bit more about some of the amazing stuff that you are doing in your business. So until next time, stay curious, stay courageous, and lead with positive intention.