Net Positive: How Courageous Companies Thrive by Giving More Than They Take

349 Pages·2021·3.057 MB·English

by  Paul Polman, Andrew Winston

“N et Positive is a must-read for business leaders. Paul’s wisdom comes from
years of authentic delivery of net positive and hugely successful businesses.
Packed with practical and visionary stories, it will spark a movement of
courageous action toward a better way of doing business for people and the
planet. A wonderful rallying call to business leaders all over the world to
step up to the greatest opportunity, and responsibility, of our time.”
—SIR RICHARD BRANSON, founder, Virgin Group
“N et Positive will be pure heresy to all those who still subscribe to the failed
dogma of shareholder primacy—which is exactly why we need it. Paul Pol-
man and Andrew Winston weave together the most profound corporate
lessons of our time to give us a vastly more ambitious, and more hopeful,
vision for the place of business in our shared future.”
—ARIANNA HUFFINGTON, founder and CEO, Thrive Global
“N et Positive makes a compelling and inspiring case that businesses can—
and should—boost their bottom lines by contributing to their communi-
ties and protecting the environment.”
— AL GORE, 45th Vice President of the United States;
Nobel Peace Prize winner; and
Chairman, Generation Investment Management
“ Polman and Winston have written a book for leaders that is carefully con-
sidered and deeply rooted in the real world of management. The authors
are as obsessed as my company is with helping the world get better by
transforming every business and every community. The financial success
of an enterprise is both dependent upon and helps to advance connections
to employees, communities, business partners, and the public sector.”
—SATYA NADELLA, Chairman and CEO, Microsoft
“ Don’t call it a ‘business book.’ Net Positive fundamentally rethinks the way
human beings—CEOs, politicians, and activists—can together reset our
planet’s trajectory. The authors understand that we have the technology
and science we need—it’s the mindset revolution that now matters most.”
—PAUL HAWKEN, author, Drawdown and Regeneration
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“ Paul knows that when leading CEOs stand up for a more equitable world,
governments are much more likely to do the same. Corporate courage un-
locks political ambition and Net Positive shows us how.”
— NGOZI OKONJO-IWEALA, Director-General, World Trade Organization;
Finance Minister of Nigeria 2003–2006 and 2011–2015
“N et Positive turns courage and principled action into an electrifying strat-
egy for business success. It’s powerful, persuasive, and unlike any other
book you’ve read.”
—KEN FRAZIER, Executive Chairman, Merck
“ It is in companies’ own self-interest to bring their ingenuity and resources
to a system that helps everyone succeed. Net Positive offers a new frame of
mind, seeing not just the long-term benefits but also the immediate wins of
getting profit and purpose to work for one another.”
—AJAY BANGA, Executive Chairman, Mastercard
“N et Positive is an unassailable argument for embracing stakeholder capital-
ism. Every business leader should read this book.”
—MARC BENIOFF, Chair and CEO, Salesforce
“N et Positive should be embedded across every business school curriculum.
Its lessons bridge business, environmental, and social disciplines, using real
and recent case studies to inspire the next generation of leaders. The clear
message is: the net positive transformation can be done, and soon it will be
our turn.”
—C ELIA BRAVARD, MBA/MS candidate, Erb Institute, University of Michigan
“ This is an important book about the challenges facing business and the
actions needed to transition to a net positive future. It is refreshingly direct
in pointing out the courage needed as well as the respect for what it takes.”
—JESPER BRODIN, CEO, IKEA, Ingka Group
“ More than a CEO handbook, Net Positive plots a path to a new, more
resilient social contract between C-suites and their employees. Paul and
Andrew deliver the most compelling explanation yet of how to build a
flourishing business by valuing your people and respecting our planet.”
— SHARAN BURROW, General Secretary,
International Trade Union Confederation
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“ Net positive companies are mission-critical in driving stable, inclusive, cli-
mate-protecting markets. This is as much a financial transformation story
as a business how-to.”
— MARK CARNEY, Governor of the Bank of England 2013–2020;
United Nations Special Envoy for Climate Action and Finance
“N et Positive is a must-read for anyone trying to build a successful company
in growth markets. The principles explored in this book need to be built
into the very foundations of the private sector, especially in this era of rapid
change. Really, this is the future of business.”
—N. CHANDRASEKARAN, Chairman, Tata Sons
“ The tasty story of how mayo beat ketchup evolves into a master class on
how CEOs and other leaders can lead the shift from degenerative to regen-
erative business models. A must-read.”
— JOHN ELKINGTON, founder and Chief Pollinator, Volans;
author, Green Swans
“ Polman and Winston don’t shrink from the scale of our planetary chal-
lenges, and yet they leave you with much more hope than fear. The net
positive train is leaving the station, and the bravest, smartest leaders are
already on board.”
— CHRISTIANA FIGUERES, cofounder, Global Optimism;
Executive Secretary of the UN Framework Convention on
Climate Change 2010–2016; and coauthor, The Future We Choose
“N et Positive doesn’t just puncture—it totally annihilates—the myth that
profitable business and a thriving society need somehow to be at odds.
More than that, it sets out a compelling and hopeful vision, matched with
a practical guide, on how business can unlock the keys to a fairer, more
sustainable future. Paul’s bias for impact and lessons from the front line of
change at Unilever ring loudly.”
—ALAN JOPE, CEO, Unilever
“ For every business leader who understands that making a positive impact
on the world is the only viable long-term strategy but doesn’t know how to
do it, here’s your guide. No one is suggesting that going net positive is easy,
but it is worth fighting for it. This is where our future lies.”
—ISABELLE KOCHER, CEO of ENGIE Group, 2016–2020
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“ Investors are waking up to the fact that business can and should be prof-
itable by serving societies, but many still don’t know how to engage with
companies in this direction. Net Positive hands these investors the insights
they need to shape boardroom discussions and hold C-suites to account.”
— HIRO MIZUNO, UN Special Envoy on Innovative Finance
and Sustainable Investments; Chief Investment Officer,
Government Pension Investment Fund of Japan, 2015–2020
“ The beauty of Net Positive is its scale. Overhaul companies, shift indus-
tries, transform markets, put capitalism in greater service of the world.”
—JACQUELINE NOVOGRATZ, founder and CEO, Acumen
“ Paul Polman has been the world’s most powerful business voice for the
idea that business can thrive by paying attention to building societies that
thrive. I was proud to serve alongside him on the UN panel that wrote the
first draft of the Sustainable Development Goals. Now he has come forward
with Net Positive, a radically different vision for the relationship between
business, civil society, and government, replacing short-term self-interest
with enlightened long-term partnership for our common goals. Business
leaders would do well to listen to his bold and innovative ideas for the net
positive advocacy that our societies desperately need.”
— JOHN PODESTA, Chair, Center for American Progress;
White House Chief of Staff to President Bill Clinton
and counselor to President Barack Obama
“ This book detonates the idea that net zero takes us far enough. It will be
extremely uncomfortable reading for corporate laggards and the vested in-
terests that support them.”
— MARY ROBINSON, President of Ireland, 1990–1997;
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 1997–2002;
Chair, The Elders
“ The world faces a deep and interwoven set of global challenges, spanning
health, growth, inequality, climate change, and biodiversity. They demand
new and urgent collaborations from public authorities and the private sec-
tor. Polman and Winston both demonstrate the scale and urgency of these
challenges and show business precisely how it must transform to embrace
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this new era of partnership and become a powerful force for economic and
social renewal. It is an immensely important contribution.”
— NICK STERN, Professor of Economics and Government and
Chair of the Grantham Research Institute on Climate Change
and the Environment, London School of Economics
“ We don’t just need net positive companies, we need a net positive move-
ment. This book can start it.”
— PROFESSOR MUHAMMAD YUNUS, Nobel Peace Prize winner;
founder, Grameen Bank
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PAUL POLMAN + ANDREW WINSTON
HOW C OUR AGEOUS C OMPA NIE S
T HR I V E BY GI V ING MOR E
T H A N T HE Y TA K E
Harvard Business Review Press
Boston, Massachusetts
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