Over the last decade, I have seen ESG travel a long distance—from a reporting exercise to a boardroom priority. What is interesting today is that ESG is no longer driven by idealism alone. It is being shaped by very practical business forces. Based on what I see across companies, investors, and institutions, these ten drivers are redefining how ESG is actually practiced on the ground.
Imagine a giant public notice board that never sleeps. Anyone can walk up to it, write their thoughts, share a photo, tell a story, or react to what others have written—and within seconds, thousands or even millions of people can see it. This is social media. Social media is not just about information-it is about stories. It turns facts into feelings, data into emotions, and events into narratives.
With over three decades of leadership across some of the world’s most respected automotive brands, Mr. Hardeep Singh Brar brings a rare blend of strategic depth, cultural fluency and people-centric leadership to his role as President & CEO of BMW Group India.
We are fortunate to live in a time when discussions about health increasingly include not only physical health but mental well-being as well. On the flip side, maybe, more than as a matter of choice, these discussions could have been wrought upon us by the increasing number of diseases and deaths that are also being reported these days. It was not so long back that the entire bustling world was brought to a sad standstill by the COVID pandemic, which claimed many among us. As we get back to our lives, we struggle with the discussions and disputes involving the possible side effects of the vaccines and the recovery from the disease that has been brought upon our bodies. There are not too few of us who believe we are worse off (be it lungs or heart health) for the disease that hit almost all of us by the end of its third wave. Let us just hope we are just being falsely anxious in this regard. However, the truth might be, the increasing number of deaths involving cardiac arrests of fit, health-conscious, even athletic youngsters is painful and disturbing, calling forth the need for words to be followed with actions.
In today’s hyper-competitive corporate world, the office lights that burn late into the night are often seen as symbols of commitment, ambition, and drive. Many leaders still valorise the last person to leave the office, and employees silently applaud those who sacrifice evenings and weekends at the altar of “Simulacrum of Productivity.” But beneath this glowing façade lies a costly illusion—one that mistakes physical presence for meaningful performance, and busyness for impact.