Many organisations are busy without being effective.

Projects multiply, initiatives overlap, and leaders spend increasing time maintaining activity rather than deciding what should stop. In this episode of The Responsible Edge, John reflects on why motion is often mistaken for progress, and why responsible leadership requires restraint as much as ambition.

Drawing on a career that spans military service, non-profit leadership, global corporate work, and the founding of Anthropy, John explains why middling projects are harder to end than failing ones, how emotional attachment distorts decision-making, and why organisations rarely apply clear endpoints to internal initiatives.

The conversation explores purpose not as a slogan, but as a practical filter for decisions. John describes how clarity of purpose can simplify choices, reduce distraction, and allow authority to be delegated without constant escalation.

The episode also addresses the wider context leaders operate within. Short-term reporting cycles, constant media noise, and social distraction make focus harder to sustain. John argues that courage and maturity are now more valuable leadership traits than speed or visibility.

The discussion closes with a grounded note of optimism, drawn from John’s work with emerging leaders who are already practising a quieter, more deliberate form of leadership.

#ResponsibleLeadership #PurposeInBusiness #LongTermThinking #OrganisationalFocus #EthicalLeadership

Artificial intelligence is moving fast into executive search. Promising speed, scale, and efficiency, it is reshaping how leaders are identified and shortlisted.

In this episode of The Responsible Edge, Simon Heal, founder of Myco Search, explains why judgment cannot be automated when leadership decisions shape long-term outcomes. Drawing on more than twenty-five years in executive search and his current work in food and agri-food technology, Heal explores where AI adds value and where it creates risk.

The conversation covers:

- How AI tools are changing recruitment workflows

- Why historical data can reinforce narrow leadership patterns

- The danger of filtering out potential in emerging industries

- What transparency should look like in executive search

- Why food system leadership carries ethical weight

“AI is very good at spotting patterns,” Heal says. “It cannot spot potential.”

This episode is for founders, boards, recruiters, and anyone thinking seriously about how technology should support, not replace, human responsibility in hiring.

Listen, reflect, and consider where judgment belongs.

#ExecutiveSearch #AIandWork #FoodTech #Leadership #ResponsibleBusiness

The UK’s emissions are falling. But what if the numbers are hiding a deeper problem?

In this episode of The Responsible Edge, Charlie Martin speaks with Sarah Le Gresley, Group Innovation and Sustainability Director at Michelmersh Brick Holdings, about the difference between territorial and consumption-based emissions and why it matters for British industry.

Sarah explains how emissions reductions across the UK ceramics sector are partly the result of factory closures, not just cleaner production. As manufacturing moves overseas, consumption remains unchanged, jobs disappear, and supply chains become more fragile.

“It’s not just an impact to our emissions,” Sarah says. “It’s an impact to our jobs.”

The conversation explores energy costs, offshoring, skills loss, and the unintended consequences of climate accounting that focuses on borders rather than behaviour.

“We are effectively offshoring manufacturing products to other countries,” Sarah says. “But we’re still consuming those products.”

This episode looks beyond headline targets to ask what responsibility really requires from climate policy, industry, and consumers.

#ResponsibleBusiness #ClimatePolicy #UKManufacturing #Sustainability

Recruiting for frontline roles has become increasingly difficult. Employers face high turnover, rising training costs, and constant pressure on customer-facing staff.

In this episode of The Responsible Edge, we speak with Christy Acton, founder and CEO of Standing Tall, about why some employers are finding stronger performance by hiring people who have experienced homelessness.

Standing Tall places people into demanding frontline roles alongside secure housing and twelve months of ongoing support. Employers are not choosing this model for reputational reasons. They are choosing it because it works.

Christy explains how lived hardship can translate into emotional intelligence, why recruits who have fought to re-enter work often stay longer, and how inclusive hiring can solve real workforce problems rather than create new ones.

The conversation challenges the idea that social value sits apart from commercial outcomes. Instead, it shows how recruitment decisions shape who succeeds inside an organisation, and why widening the talent pool can improve service where pressure is highest.

This episode is a grounded discussion about labour shortages, overlooked capability, and what happens when business need leads the way.

#InclusiveRecruitment #FrontlineWork #WorkforceStrategy #SocialValue #EthicalBusiness

Urban sprawl is often framed as a practical response to growth. Land is cheaper. Housing can be delivered quickly. Political resistance appears lower. But the long-term consequences are rarely counted.

In this episode of The Responsible Edge, architect and urban designer Alec Tzannes reflects on why cities continue to expand outward, despite decades of evidence that this approach fragments communities and accelerates environmental damage. Drawing on more than forty years of practice, he argues that sprawl is not only a planning failure but a cultural one.

Tzannes traces his thinking back to the 1970s, when early environmental research challenged the assumption that growth could continue without limit. He explains why much modern development, including poorly designed density, lost public trust, and how this legacy still shapes resistance to urban living today.

Central to the discussion is a deceptively simple idea. “The first principle of sustainability is make it beautiful.” For Tzannes, buildings and neighbourhoods that people love are more likely to endure, reducing the need for demolition, rebuilding, and further land consumption.

The conversation explores real-world examples of dense neighbourhoods that work, the political incentives that favour sprawl, and why containing the urban footprint may be one of the most urgent responsibilities facing cities.

This is a measured discussion about systems, culture, and the long view. It asks not how cities can grow faster, but how they can grow better.

#UrbanSprawl #SustainableCities #UrbanDesign #SystemsThinking #ResponsibleBusiness

As AI moves deeper into organisations, trust is becoming a design challenge rather than a cultural aspiration.

In this episode of The Responsible Edge, Charlie Martin speaks with Steve Garnett about a defining moment from Salesforce’s early cloud years. When systems failed, leadership chose to publish every outage publicly.

“We published all of it,” Garnett recalls. “Because we felt that was the right thing to do.”

That decision offers a powerful lesson for today’s AI-driven organisations. As algorithms increasingly decide what employees see, how customers are served, and how performance is measured, transparency becomes essential to trust.

Grounded in a Cerkl article on AI and company culture, the conversation explores:

- Why hiding failure undermines trust

- What transparency looks like when systems make decisions

- How trust must be designed into AI

- Why leaders remain accountable for automated outcomes

This episode is a practical reflection on responsibility, leadership, and what it takes to earn trust when machines act on our behalf.

#ResponsibleAI #CompanyCulture #Leadership #FutureOfWork #EthicalBusiness

The ESG backlash is real, but it is often misunderstood. In this episode of The Responsible Edge, Charlie Martin speaks with Jonathan Hall, Managing Partner of Kantar’s Sustainable Transformation Practice, about what is actually happening inside businesses as sustainability becomes politically charged.

Hall explains why some companies are retreating, why most are staying the course quietly, and why ESG language itself has become a liability. Drawing on global client work and academic insight, he argues that sustainability has not disappeared. It has matured.

The conversation covers:

- Why ESG confidence has faded

- Which companies are stepping back and why

- How sustainability language is changing

- The role of proximity and lived experience in behaviour change

- What leadership looks like in a period of backlash

“We’re constantly having to make the argument,” Hall says. Yet he believes this moment may force a more serious, more disciplined approach to sustainability inside business.

Listen for a calm, unsentimental assessment of where ESG stands and what comes next.

#ESG #Sustainability #ResponsibleBusiness #BusinessLeadership #SystemsThinking

What does it mean for a business to move beyond sustainability and into regeneration? In this episode of The Responsible Edge, consultant and Overstory Earth co founder Zoe Duvall breaks down the shift with clarity and grounded experience.

Zoe explains why many organisations are discovering that traditional sustainability is not enough for the world they now operate in. Regenerative systems thinking looks at entire systems. Soil, energy, housing, food, finance and community wellbeing are treated as connected rather than separate. As she puts it, these are all “linked” systems that shape whether an organisation can thrive.

We also explore Zoe’s own journey. She reflects on losing her father, a “serial entrepreneur,” and how his early death shaped her understanding of ambition and health. She shares the six months she spent travelling in a campervan after a health scare and how it taught her to be “more in tune with my body.”

Key topics include:

• What regenerative thinking adds beyond sustainability

• Insights from Hannah Pathak’s Economist Impact article

• Lessons from PCRAM and cross sector collaboration

• Why agriculture offers clear evidence of regenerative value

• How short term incentives block long term resilience

• Why founders are creating new support networks

• The “future goggles” Zoe wishes leaders could wear

Zoe’s message is simple. Regeneration is not abstract. The tools already exist and the need is immediate. If you value careful, real world conversations on responsible business, subscribe for more.

#RegenerativeBusiness #SystemsThinking #Sustainability #ClimateResilience #ResponsibleBusiness

Can fashion supply chains cut emissions at scale while keeping factories competitive. In this episode of The Responsible Edge, Charlie speaks with Jamie Rusby, co founder of Generation One and former sustainability leader at IKEA and VELUX.

Jamie shares the reality facing many manufacturers in Bangladesh and Nepal. Some borrow at high rates and operate with narrow margins. These conditions make long term investment difficult. As he explains, “These companies have many priorities… so it needs structure for it to move.”

The conversation explores how Generation One supports rooftop solar and energy efficiency projects through planning tools, local delivery partners and impact finance that removes the need for upfront capital. The aim is to create repeatable projects that deliver savings for factories and help brands reduce emissions across their supply chains.

In this episode you will learn:

• How factory conditions shape climate decisions

• Why access to capital is a major barrier

• How long term programs strengthen trust between brands and suppliers

• What IKEA and VELUX taught Jamie about building momentum

• Why programmatic finance depends on collaboration as much as money

• How a practical model can turn climate ambition into operational change

Watch to see how determination, structure and shared incentives can help the fashion industry decarbonise at speed.

#Sustainability #SupplyChains #EnergyTransition #EthicalBusiness #ResponsibleLeadership #RealZero

How long can a business survive if its biggest customer decides it is too risky to keep?

This episode of The Responsible Edge explores the new pressure facing small and medium-sized businesses. Sustainability is no longer a distant idea. Large organisations and public bodies now expect real evidence of environmental action, social value and strong governance. For many SMEs, the change is arriving faster than they expected.

In this conversation, we look at why proof now matters more than promises. We explore how procurement teams check claims, what investors expect, and how the risks build when a single client controls most of a company’s revenue.

This episode also explains how SMEs can take practical steps.

• Build an honest carbon baseline

• Create clear and simple policies

• Understand supply-chain expectations

• Protect key accounts through transparency

• Use sustainability as a commercial advantage

The message is straightforward. Sustainability is becoming part of everyday business. It is not only about ethics. It is also about stability, competitiveness and the future of local communities.

Watch now to understand why responsible action is now part of commercial survival.

#Sustainability #ResponsibleBusiness #SMEs #Leadership #ESG #EthicalBusiness