Paul Polman (Unilever CEO) on cultural change, leadership, Asia and Corporate Social Responsibility

We’ve been spending time recently looking at different business leaders to build up my BUSS4 students’ range of case studies when it comes to leadership. Here is a great set of interview clips featuring Paul Polman, Unilever’s dutch CEO.

In this interview, Polman discusses how he brought about cultural change by building on the strengths of the business, reduced his ‘credibility gap’ as an outsider by researching the business’ history and origins, and his personal views on leadersip. He also talks about the importance of the ‘Unilever Sustainable Living’ programme and the importance of Asia to the business.

Note also his use of the term ‘burning platform’. Following Stephen Elop (Nokia) making similar use of this analogy this is becoming something of a trend!

This is an ideal video to provide as a visual alternative to Jim Riley’s great post featuring a Management Today magazine interview with Polman. Together, both resources create an excellent case study of this leader.