Unlocking Climate Leadership Secrets: OPFA Fireside Chat with Seth Godin

Seth Godin, Founding Editor of "The Carbon Almanac" and Marketing Hall Of Famer, joins OnePointFive Academy for a fireside chat with Neil Yeoh. He highlights the importance of leadership over mere skills, advocating for initiative and independent action to drive real change.

Navigating the Climate Job Market

Godin differentiates between roles that maintain the status quo and those driving systemic shifts. For the latter, he advises cultivating visibility and influence through proactive initiatives, becoming a source of energy and opportunity.

“I wish I could tell you a magic way to get past the AI barrier and overcome biases, but I don't know how to do that. What I do know how to do is for you to make a commotion, a positive ruckus, so that you are the creator of energy and light. And that will bring opportunities to you.”

Skill Cultivation + Openness in Sustainability

Godin critiques the guarded nature of knowledge in sustainability, advocating for openness and sharing to advance climate causes. He shares his own experience of democratizing email marketing knowledge, which catalyzed industry transformation.

“In the 1990s, I invented email marketing and instead of starting MailChimp or any of those other companies, I just wrote it all down in a book and anyone who had $20 could learn everything I had. And now it's a hundred billion-dollar industry and I own zero of it.

The real work is to share what didn't work, to share what you learned. Hoarding and scarcity are not going to help you. We have to create abundance– an abundance of opportunity, an abundance of case studies, an abundance of here's what works and here's what doesn't. And we shouldn't be afraid to tell people when something doesn't work, right?”

Mastering Climate Communication

Godin discusses the importance of effectively communicating sustainability efforts. He emphasizes empathy in messaging, urging climate advocates to create narratives that resonate personally and engage collectively.

“Marketing is a challenge of empathy. People don't want what you want. They don't see what you see. They don't believe what you believe.”

“The work of getting people to go along with what you're doing is to tell a story that they need to hear, that they want to hear, that they're eager to believe, not one that is demonstrably true. So even in mathematics, you don't win the field medal by proving something that no one cares about. You figure out what people are hoping for.”

Consumer Behavior and Structural Overhauls

Godin is optimistic about combating the climate crisis through systemic change. He highlights altering consumer behaviors and making sustainable choices appealing and viable, urging individuals and organizations to lead by example and drive widespread change.

“You don't see anybody wearing a fur coat anymore. And the reason you don't see anyone wearing a fur coat anymore is the optics of it, overwhelm the luxury impulse of it.”

“If you're doing your job, you're going to meetings, you understand all the acronyms and you are not causing a commotion because that is why most institutions hired someone with your job title. If you're doing the work, you are plotting to create systemic change within and outside of the organization."

Mobilizing For Change

Godin's message is a clear call for systemic shifts, leadership, and communal empowerment. For those seeking to make a difference, his counsel to lead, share knowledge, and drive cultural shifts in consumer behavior provides a roadmap for action.

Watch the full fireside chat below.

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