Shell Canada’s last CEO opines on leadership, faith and values in today’s business climate
Editor-in-Chief Mark Wolfe and AO contributor Paul Nelson spoke to Mr. Mather on his last day at Shell Canada Limited
AO: And we’re getting short on time.
CM: Yes, and what we’re seeing could well be exponential. If you decide to plot these events, these socio-political interactions with the environment, you begin to see this curve moving.
AO: So, what three or two or one key attributes would you infuse leaders with today such that that kind of mass change would begin to happen?
CM: Well, I had no idea you guys were going to go here. I haven’t had a discussion like this in the past 20 years.
AO: Well, we’re philosophy nerds from a way back. . . .
CM: We have to build more awareness. There are very good little books that should be dropped into everybody’s postbox: Green Tips is one of my favourites because it’s so utterly practical. Tips like these work because, you know, people don’t necessarily want to do their own thing – they want to do the right thing. If you say to people, “Look, this is a good thing to do, could you do it?” they will.
Here’s a classic: there’s a guy in my neighbourhood who first thing in the morning goes outside into the street and starts up his big F350 or whatever it’s called, this jolly great truck he drives to work. Typically, he leaves the engine running for about twenty minutes whilst he has his breakfast. Why? Because he wants the cab to be warm. He thinks the only cost associated with that is the fuel he’s burning but actually, there’s another huge cost. We’ve got to build awareness and we’ve got to help people to do the right thing, and I don’t think that’s happening yet. Most people have no idea what CO2 is, so you need to try to find a respectful way to introduce what CO2 is.
The second thing we’ve got to do is to transform everything going forward. We can’t do much about the past, and retrofitting offices, hospitals, factories and refineries is economically crazy. But here’s Calgary, with buildings going up on every corner. Where do you see solar power? You don’t. Why wouldn’t we put solar panels on everybody’s roof? They’re not unattractive, certainly no less attractive than the stuff on my roof now, and Calgary’s all sunshine.
Finally, I’d try to engender some realization in society about the risks associated with behaving the way we do. In our materialism and our science and our technology, we are now beginning to go places that are truly not very helpful to humans.
AO: Mr. Mather, thanks for talking with us.
CM: Thanks for the opportunity.
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