Close

    IMD business school for management and leadership courses

    Leaders Unplugged

    PlayPlay Video

    How does sustainable leadership work? 

    April 17, 2025 • by David Bach, Felix Zeltner in Leaders Unplugged

    This episode takes you behind the scenes of a recent gathering led by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development together with IMD, where David Bach sat down with two sustainability leaders....

    Apple Spotify

    What is Leaders Unplugged?

    Leaders Unplugged is real talk with the impactful. Candid, honest, actionable – and fresh from behind the scenes. Presented by IMD in collaboration with Remote Daily. Hosted by IMD’s president, David Bach.

    Welcome to the third episode of Leaders Unplugged, presented by IMD, and hosted by IMD’s president David Bach, together with Remote Daily’s founder Felix Zeltner.

     
    Today, we take you behind the scenes of a recent gathering led by the World Business Council for Sustainable Development together with IMD, where David Bach sat down with two sustainability experts and leaders:
     
    • Geraldine Matchett, global board member at Nestlé, ABB, and SwissRe, and Chair of the steering committee of the influential Greenhouse Gas Protocol.
    • Stuart DeCew, Executive Director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment and Lecturer at the Yale School of the Environment.

    Together, they explore why transformation and sustainability are inseparable.

    “You don’t make the climate case with compliance — you make it with innovation”, says Stuart DeCew and claims that sustainability roles have to shift from reporting to investing, while Geraldine Matchett takes it a step further:

    “If you’re truly going to lead transformation, you can’t do it with an inside view of your company. You need to be much more outward-focused. Sustainability is an essential part of your license to operate.”

    They unpack the rise of “quiet activists”, organizations that stay on course on sustainability while deliberately flying under the radar, making hard choices about what matters most. As Matchett puts it: ”We officially say this matters a bit less”.

    And the conversation goes beyond challenges to highlight the immense opportunities in the sustainability space — from unlocking innovation to attracting and retaining top talent.

    Tune in for a fast-paced, thought-provoking journey into why sustainability isn’t a side topic any more — it’s the strategy.

    Leaders Unplugged features real talk with the impactful. Candid, honest, actionable, and fresh from behind the scenes. It is presented by IMD in collaboration with Remote Daily.

    Authors

    David Bach

    David Bach

    President of IMD and Nestlé Professor of Strategy and Political Economy

    David Bach is President of IMD and Nestlé Professor of Strategy and Political Economy. He assumed the Presidency of IMD on 1 September 2024. He is working to broaden and deepen IMD’s global impact through learning innovation, excellence in degree- and executive programs, and applied thought leadership. Recognized globally as an innovator in management education, Bach previously served as IMD’s Dean of Innovation and Programs.

    Felix Zeltner

    Felix Zeltner is a journalist and entrepreneur. He is the founder of Remote Daily, a media company specialized in building live talk shows for organizations around the world. He hosts Wunderbar Together, the leading German-American podcast, and is the co-author of “Stadtnomaden” (2019) and “Hype” (2024). Zeltner holds a double-degree in journalism from Munich University LMU and German Journalism School, and has received several awards for his reporting (Arte, ARD, Der Spiegel). He lives in New York City with his family.

    Expert

    Stuart DeCew

    Executive Director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment

    Stuart DeCew is the Executive Director of the Yale Center for Business and the Environment (CBEY) and a Lecturer at the Yale School of the Environment. He is responsible for overseeing the management, strategy, and development of the School of Management and the School of the Environment's research, education, and outreach programs in business and the environment. Stuart holds an MBA/MEM from the joint degree program between the Yale School of Management and the Yale School of the Environment, and a BA from Colorado College.

    Expert

    Geraldine Matchett

    Inaugural Chair of the GHG Protocol Steering Committee at the Greenhouse Gas Protocol

    Geraldine Matchett is the Inaugural Chair of the GHG Protocol Steering Committee at the Greenhouse Gas Protocol. She was previously Co-Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer at DSM-Firmenich Ltd, where she served as CFO from 2014 to 2020. Prior to that she was Global Chief Financial Officer and member of the Operations Council of the SGS Group in Switzerland. From 2020 to 2023, she also served as Executive Committee member of the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD). She holds a Master’s in Sustainable Development from the University of Cambridge and a BA from the University of Reading.

    Listen to our new series