Audiobooks by John Elkington

Tickling Sharks: How We Sold Business on Sustainability

Speaking Tomorrow’s Truth to Power. Sustainability is going mainstream—but where did the story start? For decades, the traditional capitalist business model required growth at all costs. Business-as-usual guaranteed unsustainability. Now, in contrast, we see growing adoption of greener practices, but where did these ideas come from—and where are the linked movements headed? Drawing on a half century of experience since the early seventies, “Godfather of Sustainability” John Elkington explains how a series of societal pressure waves have helped to transform business, markets, and, ultimately, capitalism. He explains how he came to “tickle” the human sharks of the corporate world, encouraging them to embrace once-unthinkable ways of addressing new social, economic, environmental, and governance priorities. John’s candid memoir tracks his colorful journey through youthful misadventures and inspirations to his pioneering work making business sense of sustainability. Written in a knowledgeable, thoughtful, and humorous voice, this witness statement explains—and criticizes—progress to date before sketching a manifesto for those determined to make the global economy more responsible, more resilient, and, crucially, more regenerative.

John Elkington (Author), John Elkington (Narrator)

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The Breakthrough Challenge: 10 Ways to Connect Today's Profits With Tomorrow's Bottom Line

Businesses today need to balance the pursuit of profit with the needs of growing numbers of people on a planet under pressure. While sustainability programs, government action, and nonprofits are all parts of the solution, a growing contingent of forward-looking leaders recognizes the real challenge: a fundamental shift in the nature of commerce. CEOs and other leaders must focus the practice of business on social, environmental, and economic benefitnot only because it will make the world a better place, but because it will ensure lasting profitability and success in the business climate of tomorrow. The Breakthrough Challenge is an inspiring call-to-action and guide for this transformation, based on the work of the B Team, a major initiative uniting leaders in sustainability. As founding members of the B Team, John Elkington and Jochen Zeitz map out their agenda for change. The most important goal for businesses must be redefining the bottom line to account for true long-term costs throughout the supply chain. To achieve this, leaders must rethink everything: what counts on balance sheets, how to incentive performance, who does what in the C-suite, and even what inspires us. The Breakthrough Challenge draws on over 100 exclusive interviews to show this shift in action, sharing the pioneering work of leaders such as Paul Polman, CEO of Unilever; Arianna Huffington, founder and CEO of The Huffington Post; Peter Brabeck-Letmathe, chairman of the Nestle Group; Linda Fisher, pioneering Chief Sustainability Officer at DuPont; among many others. Change-as-usual strategies are not enough to move business from breakdowns to breakthroughs. The Breakthrough Challenge shows leaders how to achieve a true transformation and refocus the definition of profitability on the lasting wellbeing of people and planetfor the lasting success of their business.

Jochen Zeitz, John Elkington, Richard Branson (Author), Stephen Hoye (Narrator)

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Green Swans: The Coming Boom In Regenerative Capitalism

Even leading capitalists admit that capitalism is broken. Green Swans is a manifesto for system change designed to serve people, planet, and prosperity. In his twentieth book, John Elkington-dubbed the 'Godfather of Sustainability'-explores new forms of capitalism fit for the twenty-first century. If Nassim Nicholas Taleb's 'Black Swans' are problems that take us exponentially toward breakdown, then 'Green Swans' are solutions that take us exponentially toward breakthrough. The success-and survival-of humanity now depends on how we rein in the first and accelerate the second. Green Swans draws on Elkington's first-hand experience in some of the world's best-known boardrooms and C-suites. Using case studies, real-world examples, and profiles on emergent technologies, Elkington shows how the weirdest 'Ugly Ducklings' of today's world may turn into tomorrow's world-saving Green Swans. This book is a must-listen for business leaders in corporations great and small who want to help their businesses survive the coming shift in global priorities over the next decade and expand their horizons from responsibility, through resilience, and onto regeneration.

John Elkington (Author), Keith Sellon-Wright (Narrator)

Audiobook