The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu The leading online blog in the fields of corporate governance and financial regulation. Sat, 25 Apr 2026 11:30:57 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.5.8 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/cropped-photography-4-e1706898544564-1-32x32.png ESG 2.0—The Next Generation of Leadership – The Harvard Law School Forum on Corporate Governance https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu 32 32 ESG 2.0—The Next Generation of Leadership https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/09/02/esg-2-0-the-next-generation-of-leadership/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=esg-2-0-the-next-generation-of-leadership https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/2021/09/02/esg-2-0-the-next-generation-of-leadership/#comments Thu, 02 Sep 2021 13:28:48 +0000 https://corpgov.law.harvard.edu/?p=140039?d=20210902092848EDT Posted by Kurt B. Harrison, Emily Meneer, and Beijing Zhu, Russell Reynolds Associates, on Thursday, September 2, 2021
Editor's Note:

Kurt B. Harrison is a senior member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Financial Services sector and co-head of the global Sustainability practice; Emily Meneer leads Russell Reynolds Associates’ Sustainability practice Knowledge team; and Beijing Zhu is a member of Russell Reynolds Associates’ Financial Services sector Knowledge team. This post is based on their Russell Reynolds memorandum.

Related research from the Program on Corporate Governance includes The Illusory Promise of Stakeholder Governance and Will Corporations Deliver Value to All Stakeholders?, both by Lucian A. Bebchuk and Roberto Tallarita (discussed on the Forum here); For Whom Corporate Leaders Bargain by Lucian A. Bebchuk, Kobi Kastiel, and Roberto Tallarita (discussed on the Forum here); and Restoration: The Role Stakeholder Governance Must Play in Recreating a Fair and Sustainable American Economy—A Reply to Professor Rock by Leo E. Strine, Jr. (discussed on the Forum here).

As anyone involved with ESG will attest, the current level of demand for ESG leadership talent is unsurpassed and unrelenting.

Even firms with long-standing track records of successfully integrating ESG principles into their organizations are finding it more difficult than ever to stay ahead of dynamic and constantly evolving ESG expectations. Companies that have previously resisted establishing a formalized ESG policy and framework are finally bowing to pressure from their investors, consumers, employees, boards and regulators, and now find themselves scrambling to catch up. As ESG has gone from being a functional requirement to a commercial imperative, best-in-class organizations are embracing ESG in part because they firmly believe in the financial benefits of incorporating sustainability into their corporate and investment strategies.

All of these factors have led to an avalanche of demand for ESG leadership talent, straining what was already a very thin talent pool. It is clear that next-generation ESG leaders will look quite different from earlier archetypes, as the scope of the role grows and requires a far more senior and agile executive to be considered as a credible “ESG 2.0” leader.

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