Don’t ever underestimate the awe-inspiring power you have as a business leader to change the world. Both for better, or worse.  Fortunately, this story is about business and leadership at its almost unbelievable best. It is the story of...

Don’t ever underestimate the awe-inspiring power you have as a business leader to change the world. Both for better, or worse.  Fortunately, this story is about business and leadership at its almost unbelievable best.

It is the story of Hansjörg Wyss, a successful business leader, and his legacy of staggering proportions. Just one man, but with a truly epic gesture that might just save our planet.

Mr. Wyss has become my personal hero. It is true that he is very wealthy, around $6 billion or so. He built this wealth through his successful business ventures in steel and medical devices. But unlike many stereotypes, he isn’t planning an epic vacation, or to buy an expensive private yacht or another lavish mansion with his wealth. No! He plans to buy about 15% of the planet, to ensure biodiversity and conservation for all its residents. Luckily for us, he fell in love with the great outdoors in his resident state of Wyoming. More details of his audacious plan can be found here.

To put this into perspective, only 15% of our world has been set aside for conservation today.  Contrast this with the general scientific consensus that we need to protect 50% of the planet in order to conserve the biodiversity we need to thrive as a species. See Half Earth and Nature Needs Half for more reading if you are not convinced about the need for preserving biodiversity.

So Mr. Wyss’s gift will effectively double the protection of the planet by increasing this from 15% to 30%. This gift has an enormous impact on the world for generations to come. It puts him in the same ranks as Bill and Melinda Gates for changing the course of history permanently.

Thank you, Mr. Hansjörg Wyss!

Which leads me to my next hopeful question. If one billionaire can do this, how about just 2 more? Two more gifts of 15% of planet earth and we reach the mythical and much needed 50% protection zone. Call me crazy, but this sounds do-able to me. Calling any other visionary and extraordinary billionaires… Mr. Bezos?  Or perhaps 1000 millionaires?  Or perhaps a lot of people like you and me? Anyone?

As a leader, I want this article to challenge your view on the incredible power of your business to do good in the world.  I have become fascinated with this topic and delighted to apply well-thought-out sustainability constructs for helping business leaders increase their purpose and mission to include social responsibility causes as well as profit. It turns out customers love this stuff (shocker). And there isn’t a better strategy tool on the planet today than increasing your company purpose and impact if you are concerned about attracting and engaging top quality millennials!

If you, as a business leader, would like to increase your social purpose – let’s talk.

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