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05 May 2020

Fighting Climate Change Requires a New Capitalism

Tackling one of the biggest crises of our time—climate change—requires leaders to embrace a new vision of business, argues Rebecca Henderson
Re: Rebecca M. Henderson (John and Natty McArthur University Professor)
Topics: Organizations-Corporate Social Responsibility and ImpactManagement-GeneralLeadership-Leading Change
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Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva

Photo by Evgenia Eliseeva

Rebecca Henderson spent her young adult years living two lives.

At work, she preached the risks of resisting change to MBA students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, drawing on lessons she learned while watching factories close as a management consultant. But at home, she found comfort in the seeming permanence of nature and trees, whose leafy branches provided solace to her as a child.

“I kept my job and my passions in separate boxes,” writes Henderson, who joined Harvard Business School in 2009 and is now the John and Natty McArthur University Professor at Harvard University. “Work was lucrative and fun and often hugely interesting, but it was something I did before returning to real life.”

Business was ever-changing, but nature was constant. It wasn’t until in the mid-2000s, at her brother’s urging, that she started to read about the science of climate change—and the part that business has played in accelerating it. The revelation shook her world view.

After debating whether to quit her job at MIT, Henderson started seeking out like-minded leaders who shared her concerns. Her experiences and the research that came out of them culminate in her new book, Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire, a deeply personal exploration of capitalism’s role in addressing climate change.

[Read the complete interview in Working Knowledge.]

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Rebecca M. Henderson
John and Natty McArthur University Professor

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