What really changes when economics and geopolitics rewrite the rules. In this conversation, Michael Kobori and Sandja Brügmann explore how sustainability is evolving amid today’s macroeconomic and geopolitical pressures. Kobori highlights the growing need for sustainability leaders to align their work with core business and financial priorities, the power of collaboration across companies, and the role of innovation in driving systemic change. Drawing on his experience at Starbucks, he also underscores the importance of culture and leadership in embedding sustainability at scale. The discussion closes with a pragmatic yet hopeful outlook, calling for proactive leadership and stronger communities to shape the future of sustainability.   New Global Mind is a video podcast exploring leadership and strategic transition for systems… Read more »

  Systems Thinking as a Leadership Requirement (not a nice-to-have) For business to remain relevant, it must be able to operate inside the reality of the world it affects. That means leaders must see how value creation interacts with social legitimacy, ecological constraints, governance, and human behaviour. When leaders cannot read these interdependencies, strategy becomes fragile and execution drifts. This is the lens from which I operate. As a synthetic strategist, I work with leaders to map the patterns that drive outcomes—financial flows, incentive structures, power dynamics, stakeholder relationships, and the narratives that shape behaviour. The goal is not complexity for its own sake. The goal is strategic judgement: clear priorities, coherent decisions, and implementation that holds under real-world constraints…. Read more »