Dialogues

Past Dialogues

Leadership Dialogue with Interface - 2 July, 2024 - Scherpenzeel, NL

Our most recent Leadership Dialogue was held at Interface’s EMEA HQ and manufacturing center in the Netherlands. Interface, a flooring products manufacturing company, is ranked by ERM as one of the top 5 most sustainable companies globally. They achieved carbon neutrality in 2019 and aspire to be carbon-negative (cradle to gate) in their flooring products by 2040. Their commitment to this transformation is demonstrated by their ‘Climate Take Back’ initiative, which aims to reverse climate change.

The Dialogue explored their innovative journey and the strategic implications of being a regenerative company. For Interface, good design is paramount to this goal, and a good design is both sustainable and profitable. For instance, in 2012, Interface partnered with the Zoological Society of London to establish Net-Works, an integrated supply chain solution that pays improvised fishing villages to collect lost and discarded fishing nets and recycle them into nylon yarn. This yarn is then used to produce Interface’s carpets.

A key insight from our dialogue was the degree of responsibility that Ray Anderson took for the environmental impact of the company he founded and led as CEO and Chairman. His commitment in 1994 to changing the way they made their products became a forerunner to the collective aspirations of their employees to work for the benefit of all life on our planet. 

Interface’s steadfast determination to be leaders in a regenerative future remains today and was clearly evident during our visit and factory tour. Yet more than their dedication was the felt experience that ‘this’ was the normal way for businesses to function. Further, the attitude that if we can do this, anybody can was palpable – you could see, hear, and touch it everywhere.

Our visit left us exploring such questions as: Why do some leaders take responsibility for a regenerative future, even when the path takes them into the unknown? How do we re-ground people in a healthy and regenerative leadership environment? How do we help Interface to inspire the rest of business? Most importantly, it left us excited to be part of a regenerative and One Earth Leadership movement.

To learn more about Interface’s journey, you can visit their website or watch an award-winning independent documentary: https://beyondzerofilm.com.

Special thanks to to: Dwight Gibson, Board Member; Riemke Jaanus, Manager Global Communications EAAA; Niek Jaarsma, Head of HR, Netherlands & Northern Ireland; Jantine Kraai – van Malestijn, Office Manager; Eline Oudenbroek, VP Supply Chain & Operations EMEA; Willem - Paul van der Burg, Salesperson; and Daniëlle Verschuur, VP Finance EAAA. Also, to Laurel Hurd, CEO, for her continued support.

Leadership Dialogue with Rand Mutual Assurances - 4 March, 2024 - Johannesburg, SA

Our spring One Earth Dialogue took place in Johannesburg, South Africa, at Beechwood Gardens. This beautiful setting, with its old-growth trees in the heart of the city, provided a serene and nurturing environment. We recognized how the setting itself influenced the dynamics of dialogue, underscoring the interconnectedness between our internal states and external surroundings. 

Senior leaders from Bidvest Group, Cadena, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Halls Group, Idea Engineers, PMX, Rand Mutual Assurance, Saint-Gobain, Transcend, and Vulacoin deeply engaged in the dialogues.

As we shared insights from our own stories the space began to expand with interest and curiosity for each other and the themes we were touching upon -- the value of learning to leadership, the work of transformation in reimagining the purpose of business, the nature of connection and service to stakeholders, and how these all build upon and relate to each other. 

These interdependencies became more readily apparent as we talked about growth and transformation.  Collectively, we found that transformation began with our own leadership and reexamining our purpose and our capability to live that purpose, which in turn led to reframing our organization's purpose and its role within a multi-stakeholder ecosystem. 

Rand Mutual Assurance’s transformation journey was illustrated by Kyle Fredericks, Group Head of Strategy.  As a company that administers workman's compensation programs for the mining and minerals industries of South Africa, Kyle illustrated how Rand Mutual has taken that a step further in supporting development projects that provide life-altering pathways for injured and pensioned miners, their families, and communities through the creation of hydroponic food production systems that is shaping their next career and creating healthier communities.

Leadership Dialogues with Interface - 30-31 January 2024 - Atlanta, US

In January we launched our first Dialogue of the series at the Interface HQ, engaging with CEO Laurel Hurd; Director of Design Purpose Chip DeGrace; Head of Global Sustainability Strategy Liz Minne; and Director of ESG and Strategic Projects Lindsay Stoda.

Interface, a carpet and flooring manufacturer, has set the audacious goal of becoming the most sustainable company in the world and we at OELC expect them to achieve it. Why – because they have been on the sustainability journey for over 25 years and have created a culture that supports their strategy of sustainability and beyond.

Interface emphasizes design and that it is never a question of sustainability or financial profits. If they can’t achieve both, then it is a design issue to be solved – be it the design of a product, their manufacturing process, or their way to market. They also focus on life-centered design from carbon neutral and carbon negative products to envisioning their factories as forests. As part of their Take Back Climate initiative, Interface is partnering with Biomimicry 3.8, in redesigning their factories to provide some of the same ecosystemic values as a forest: filter water, clean air, store carbon, and provide habitats for local plants and animals.

More than a sustainability agenda, transforming their factories and creating carbon negative products emerges from Interface’s regenerative approach and their vision of business leading the reversal of climate change. Wonderful to spend time with a company that embodies the One Earth Leadership philosophy!