Listen Now

Juliet Mian interviews project lead Peter Willis about the origins and purpose of the Shifting Climate Leadership project and what is already emerging from his conversations with climate leaders. Podcast editing by Roman Svidran.

We brought together Dr Juliet Mian, The Resilience Shift, and Dr Kristen MacAskill, University of Cambridge, to discuss their reflections, 2 years on from our Christchurch round-table and 10 years on from the devastating earthquakes. What is the learning from this event looking back, and for building more resilience to future events and uncertainties?

The Safety at Work session, held on 15 September 2020, was a moderated conversation around safety challenges in a post-Covid world, from small-scale practical issues to long-term consequences to our institutions and systems. The conversation drew on emerging findings from the Lloyd’s Register Foundation’s research as well as input from grant holders and experts around global perceptions on risk and safety at work, and how these might be affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The session reflected on how Covid-19 has disrupted existing practice around safety at work, how the sector has adapted, and what lessons the current disruption holds for our shared future. In the session participants were asked to examine how their work life has changed between January and September 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic; how they have managed to stay resilient – both personally and professionally – and prepare for a ‘new normal’ future.

In the Data session, conducted on 17 September 2020, participants were asked to examine how their work life has changed between January and September 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic; how they have managed to stay resilient – both personally and professionally – and prepare for a ‘new normal’ future. The session was a moderated conversation around data changes in a post-Covid world, from small-scale practical issues to long-term consequences to our institutions and systems. The conversation drew on emerging findings from the Foundation’s research as well as input from grant holders and experts around global perceptions on data, and how these might be affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The session reflected on how Covid-19 has disrupted existing practice around data access, management and use, how practices have adapted, and what lessons the current disruption holds for our shared future.

In the Education session, held on 16 September 2020, participants were asked to examine how their work life has changed between January and September 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic; how they have managed to stay resilient – both personally and professionally – and prepare for a ‘new normal’ future. The session was a moderated conversation around education changes in a post-Covid world, from small-scale practical issues to long-term consequences to our institutions and systems. The conversation drew on emerging findings from the Foundation’s research as well as input from grant holders and education experts. The session reflected on how Covid-19 has affected education, how the sector has adapted, and what lessons the current disruption holds for our shared future.

In the Infrastructure session, conducted on 15 September 2020, participants were asked to examine how their work life had changed between January and September 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic; how they have managed to stay resilient, both personally and professionally; and how they intended to prepare for a ‘new normal’ future. The session was a moderated conversation framed around infrastructure challenges in a post-Covid world, from small-scale practical issues to long-term institutional and systemic consequences. Participants reflected on how the Covid crisis has disrupted existing practice across critical infrastructure systems and related industries, how systems have adapted, and what lessons the current disruption holds for our shared future.

In the Public Understanding of Risk session, held on 24 September 2020, participants were asked to examine how their work life has changed between January and September 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic; how they have managed to stay resilient – both personally and professionally – and prepare for a ‘new normal’ future. The session was a lightly guided discussion of how the Covid-19 pandemic has affected public understanding of risk, with thematic emphasis on the areas of leadership and decision making, disaster risk governance, risk communications, and the relationship between the pandemic and the climate crisis as concerns the above issues. The conversation drew on emerging findings from the Foundation’s research as well as input from grant holders and experts around global perceptions on risk and how these might be affected by the Covid-19 crisis. The session reflected on how Covid-19 has disrupted existing practice around risk governance and communications, how the sector has adapted, and what lessons the current disruption holds for our shared future.

Seth and Peter close out the year and the Resilient Leadership project with Christiana Figueres and Tom Rivett-Carnac, who led the delivery of the Paris Climate Agreement in 2015 and have been co-hosting the Outrage and Optimism podcast. They discuss how deep listening and leadership for resilience can play a role in addressing the climate crisis. Download the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project report here: https://www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership-report/ Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019)

The project team get together to summarise the process of distilling insights from weekly interviews, and discuss their personal takeaways and lessons from the sixteen week process. Download the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project report here: https://www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership-report/ Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019)

Peter speaks to Gareth Morgan, Director of Resilience of the City of Cape Town (CoCT) about a similar reflective learning exercise he has been leading within the CoCT management team since the beginning of the Covid-19 crisis. Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019)

The Covid-19 crisis continues, but this phase of our project comes to an end with a final round of weekly insights. Seth and Peter discuss how city leaders continue to grapple with the impact of the Covid-19 crisis, and close out on an optimistic note with responses from our participants to the question, “What gifts has the crisis brought?” We’re taking the summer off to reflect and recharge and will be back in September with a special series of episodes closing out the Resilient Leadership project. See you then! Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019).

In our penultimate episode with weekly insights, the focus of Seth and Peter’s conversation is our participants’ reflections on showing up as a leader during a crisis, dilemmas around the right level of decentralised decision-making, and thoughts on how crisis recovery can truly catalyse a transformation. Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019).

This week, Seth and Peter discuss our participants’ reflections on individual attributes that have sustained them through a long crisis, what does transformation really mean and who can help deliver it. Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019).

Our participants’ reflections on personal and institutional blind spots and approaches to address them form the basis of Seth and Peter’s conversation this week. Also, we hear how our corporate participants are grappling with the mixed bag of business prospects presented by this crisis and get a sneak peek into the project team’s process of distilling weekly insights. Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019).

Amid a seemingly endless pandemic, Seth and Peter discuss the implications on crisis management structures and plans in city government and private sector organisations, aspects of human nature that act as barriers to recovery from Covid-19, and some personal reflections from our participants on leadership lessons they’ve picked up along the way. Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019).

Seth and Peter discuss updates – positive and negative – from the crises our participants are grappling with, and leadership traits that help with response, recovery and transformation after a crisis. Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019).

Seth and Peter discuss our participants’ reflections on the impact of the anti-racism protests in the USA on their organisations and countries, a possible return to ‘business as usual’ with respect to Covid-19, and where to look for leadership in the future. Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019).

Seth and Peter resume normal programming with a discussion on insights from Round 7 of interviews, including reflections on personal and organisational responses to a widening and deepening crisis, how the pandemic is revealing different mechanisms for building and losing trust, and conscious lessons for the future. Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019)

We close out our five-part special series with Emerging Insights around recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic. Seth and Peter discuss our participants’ reflections from the last eight weeks on the future of cities and businesses. Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019)

In this penultimate episode of our five-part special series on ‘Emerging Insights’, Seth and Peter discuss our twelve participants’ reflections on changes to leadership and management styles as the Covid-19 crisis has deepened or widened. Find out more about the ‘Resilient Leadership’ project here: www.resilienceshift.org/resilient-leadership Podcast editing by Roman Svidran. Music by Robin Fuzile and Jesse Reiner from the album ‘Unyuko’ (2019)