IoD Scotland Autumn 2021

A time to build
forward better
The IoD Global
Conference’s central
theme gave business
leaders plenty
to consider as they look
to re-build the economy
post-Covid, says
Aidan O’Carroll,
IoD Scotland Chair
As we move into
Autumn it is always
a time to reflect on
what we need to
do over the coming
seasons and to take
stock of where we
are and where we are
going.
As we learn to live with Covid and,
hopefully, businesses across Scotland
can start to plan ahead, there are a
number of pressing matters to address.
While we are in the centre of a
perfect storm of shortages in resources,
materials, increasing prices and
challenges coming out of our Brexit
transition, we should not lose sight of
one of the most important issues that all
of us need to address - the Climate Crisis
- and how we are going to respond in the
coming weeks, months and years ahead.
This was the central theme in our
first Global Conference hosted by
IoD in Scotland, where our theme of
Connecting the World, tackling our
Global Challenges together, brought
some leading figures together to focus
on our response to climate change and
how we must all accelerate our thinking
and actions.
It was humbling to listen to some
key speakers describe just how climate
change has affected the lives of all in
ways we could not have envisaged just a
few years ago. David Miliband called for
an end to “happy talk” and for concerted
action to be taken.
It may sound like one of our biggest
challenges, but it is also one of the
greatest opportunities for all that the
IoD stands for to shine a light on the
positive things we must do. Great
leadership and great governance will
be at the heart of the changes we are
making, and in turn this will lead to some
of the best innovators to come to the
forefront of organisations to help create
the collaborative environment that will
tackle these challenges head-on.
In Scotland, we have some of the
brightest talent ready to be deployed
with fresh ideas and determination to
succeed. As leaders, we need to create
that space and support, in particular, the
younger workforce who are determined
to hold us to account for what we do
next.
This is something to be truly welcomed
and as we drive greater transparency in
all that we are doing we can, as one of
our contributors at the Conference put it,
“build forward better”.
• Conference coverage from page 28
Cover photograph: Professor Mark Logan discusses Scotland’s digital future and the need for action on climate change in our
leadership interview. See page 12. Photo by Iain McLean – photomclean@googlemail.com
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Autumn 2021
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