Putting the circular economy into perspective
  • Home
  • ABOUT US
  • JOURNALISM
  • INSIGHT
  • RESEARCH
  • 100 SECONDS
  • SERVICES

​The rise of a new CEO – the Circular Economy Officer

30/11/2015

0 Comments

 
MAXINE PERELLA
Are we seeing the emergence of a new type of CEO – the Circular Economy Officer? I’ve been wondering about the validity of creating dedicated circular economy roles within companies and organisations for some time, and it’s a question I will be exploring in more depth over the next couple of weeks for a forthcoming article.
 
Such roles are still thin on the ground, but it’s notable that those businesses which have already created them are demonstrating real leadership on this agenda. The argument here could be that a dedicated CEO has the freedom to act as a ‘rapid response’ change agent – more nimble-footed when it comes to accelerating the types of transitions needed.
 
A counter-argument to having a CEO is that circular strategies and activities should be baked into existing roles. We are seeing more CSR leads tasked with innovation remits – in many cases, this includes anything relating to the circular economy. The danger here of course is that circularity gets smudged into an already cluttered sustainability spectrum, and thus falls behind in the pecking order.
 
It might be that CEO works best as a temporary role, and that’s the view I’m currently leaning towards. The building blocks of any circular strategy, especially if the starting point is linearity (which in most cases, it is) will only be created by a ‘Big Bang’ moment – and that requires a mental fuse to be lit. The CEO is perfectly placed to act as that catalyst.
 
Once the CEO has helped to facilitate the types of collaborations needed, and identified the best touch points to unlock innovation – both internally and externally – the role would likely evolve into one of governance. At that point, it could be absorbed by any decent middle manager.
 
The article I’m writing will also be asking a number of other questions pertaining to CEOs:

  • What should the core remit be?
  • What skill sets are best suited for such a job function?
  • What professional disciplines should they be recruited from?
  • How can their value be measured?
 
Depending on what comes out of my research, the thinking may well get refined. But I have a hunch that we’ll be seeing more CEO roles spring up as time goes on. Not just on an organisational basis, but also on a geographic basis as regions, countries and governments start to formulate circular action plans.
 
Because of this, don’t count out the possibility of a new piece of Go Circular research relating to CEO opportunity and potential. Watch this space. 
0 Comments

Your comment will be posted after it is approved.


Leave a Reply.

    Insight. We want 
    to be full of it.
    Welcome to the 
    Go Circular blog.

    Short, sharp insightful commentary analysing 
    the most topical issues relating to circularity

    Fancy being an insight blogger?

    We are seeking regular contributors to help grow 
    our blog presence. Please contact us for details
    GET IN TOUCH

    Archived posts

    October 2016
    February 2016
    November 2015
    October 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    September 2014

    RSS Feed

Powered by Create your own unique website with customizable templates.