Top 123 Quotes & Sayings by Paul Polman - Page 2

Let's work together to make our economies strong and our climate sustainable. It can be done.

Purpose has always been part of Unilever's DNA. Our founder, William Lever, built a business around the sale of Lifebuoy soap that was not only profitable and sustainable but also helped transform the health of the poor in Victorian Britain.

As economies have evolved, the nature of work has always changed.

Sustainability makes good business sense, and we're all on the same team at the end of the day. That's the truth about the human condition.

Around the world, businesses and investors are increasingly taking action to climate-proof their own organizations.

If the short-term decisions you make damage the long term, you should resist those. But there are many short-term decisions that you need to make to be a successful manager.

Why would you invest in a company which is out of synch with the needs of society, that does not take its social compliance in its supply chain seriously, that does not think about the costs of externalities or of its negative impacts on society?

You can put yourself to the purpose of others, and in doing so, you can be better off.

We need new, dynamic models for growth through the sharing economy, using big data to unlock new insights and adopting closed-loop cycles.

Every few decades, we have an opportunity to make a drastic change to the way we live our lives. We get a chance to design the building blocks of our daily routines, the infrastructure that will support and accompany us for the years to come - from the trains and trams we ride, the offices we work in, to the energy that powers our homes.

Forest nations willing to do more than their fair share to solve the climate crisis should be rewarded through results-based payments.

More and more businesses are seeing the potential of a more sustainable business model, driven both by the firm belief that business can be a force for good and by the realization that the cost of inaction often exceeds the cost of action - notably when it comes to the growing threat of climate change and water scarcity.

Simply put, the low-carbon economy is better for growth.

Consumers in both emerging and developed markets want it all - high-performing products, the right price, and a purpose that they can connect with.

I don't have a problem crying when I need to cry.

It is not possible to have a strong, functioning business in a world of increasing inequality, poverty, and climate change.

There are billions of people in the world who deserve the better quality of life that products such as soap, shampoo, and clean drinking water can provide.

I grew up in a small town in the Netherlands which, for years, had been a center of textile production.

Business has a responsibility and opportunity to be the driving force for the advancement of universal human rights.

At Unilever, we are committed to building an inclusive organisation where all individuals feel safe, valued, and supported - irrespective of gender, background, or any other difference.

When we empower women, society benefits, grows, and thrives.

Many businesses understand the advantages of gender parity.

There is still too much pressure on short-termism in terms of the drivers of success.

We all have responsibility to stop violence and discrimination against women, whether it's in our businesses, in our homes, or on our streets.

Often people ask me what my job is, and I say, honestly, it is to make others successful, and the more you do that, the more you will see that you create prosperity.

The young give us hope because young people are certain their best days still lie ahead - which explains why they're absolutely convinced they can change the world for the better.

It's easy to be a short-term hero. It is very easy for me to get tremendous results very short term, get that translated into compensation, and be off sailing in the Bahamas. But the goal for this company - and it's very difficult to do - the goal is to follow a four- or five-year process.

It only takes a handful of sizeable companies to reach a tipping point and to transform markets.

I do not work for the shareholder, to be honest. I work for the customer.

I am very confident about the Modi government.

As CEO of Unilever, my personal mission is to galvanize our company to be an effective force for good.

Too many companies are running their business into the ground, I would argue, by being myopically short-term focused on the shareholder.

Land is a great example of how we can manage and invest in sustainable infrastructure for economic, social, and environmental gains. Its use - and misuse - is at the heart of the challenge for food, fuel, and fibre.

In certain cases, empowering women starts with making their lives easier and removing unnecessary burdens.

While we have created prosperity for many, too many are being left behind.

I say to a lot of people you have to measure success in terms of progress, not in terms of end state.

The moral case for gender equality is obvious. It should not need any explanation.

Too often, we are being programmed by the environment around us to behave differently. But I think a true leader is an authentic person who feels good about who he is.

I see business as an ecosystem.

There are some basic human needs that are the same. Everybody wants to succeed.

What is success? I think the most important thing is to achieve what you set out to achieve. Just being a CEO in itself is not success. I would not relate success to a title or a position. My career has had a level of serendipity all along. I've never planned anything out more than a few years.

It is unacceptable that more than 1 billion people are hungry every day while another billion are obese.

My biggest fear is that I become useless or less useful by not being up to date - be it with technology, changing consumers, changing global situations. You continuously have to have a little level of paranoia that forces you to set the bar higher every day.

Provocative and challenging The Social License makes a compelling case for why companies must look to increase their positive social impact as an integral part of their core business strategies.

This world is changing enormously. In any position in a company you need to work very hard on learning new skills every day, but you also need to unlearn some of the old skills from the past.

The last few months have seen a welcome race to the top. Consumers have sent companies a clear signal that they do not want their purchasing habits to drive deforestation and companies are responding. Better still, companies are committing to working in partnership with suppliers, governments and NGOs to strengthen forest governance and economic incentives. It can be done and this Declaration signals a real intention to accelerate action.

I don't think our fiduciary duty is to put shareholders first. I say the opposite. What we firmly believe is that if we focus our company on improving the lives of the world's citizens and come up with genuine sustainable solutions, we are more in synch with consumers and society and ultimately this will result in good shareholder returns.

When I interview people, I look at their values. I always say that the best chance of success is if the individual's values are aligned with the corporate values.

My biggest fear is that we [Unilever company] at one point in time will not be able to attract the best and brightest [workers]. I don't worry so much about the business, the strategy. If we can continue to attract the best, I know they will ultimately figure out how to run the company in a very tough environment.

If we achieve our sustainability targets and no one else follows, we will have failed.

My fear is a fear of being obsolete. This is a world that changes very fast, and one of the main human desires is to belong to, to be part of something. It's probably one of our greatest needs next to oxygen.

If you work at an insurance company that sells premiums you wouldn't even sell to your mother, how happy would you feel to work there? It's going to eat you up. It might last a few years, but it doesn't attract the best people, and it certainly doesn't create the energy and engagement you need to be a long-term performing company.

We cannot choose between [economic] growth and sustainability - we must have both

Imagine all the food mankind has produced over the past 8,000 years. Now consider that we need to produce that same amount again — but in just the next 40 years if we are to feed our growing and hungry world.

The moment you discover in life that it's not about yourself, that it is about investing in others, I think you're entering a steadier state to be a great leader. Because above all, I think the main quality of a leader is to be a human being. There's no reason you are special because you happen to have this job or these responsibilities.

Leadership is not just about giving energy ... it's unleashing other people's energy.

The very essence of capitalism is under threat as business is now seen as a personal wealth accumulator. We have to bring this world back to sanity and put the greater good ahead of self-interest. We need to fight very hard to create an environment out there that is more long term focussed and move away from short termism.

Unless we change direction, models show that the profit of the entire consumer goods sector could be wiped out by 2050.

The world we want is an enormous responsibility.

Many companies are disappointing the citizens of this world by manipulating labor rates, putting horse meat instead of beef out there, or thinking it's totally acceptable to make a T-shirt from a collapsing factory. Increasingly, people don't want to work for these companies, and consumers don't want to buy from them.