The UN supported Institute for Responsible Leadership (IRL) previously hosted by the CSR Finance Institute and of which a Greenwich Academic Dr Colin Coulson-Thomas is an Honoured Fellow now has its own dedicated website
The Institute was formed
to promote leadership integrity resonant with Corporate Social
Responsibility (CSR)/Sustainability in the
public and private sector; offer courses/seminars, mentoring, coaching and
consultancy in responsible
leadership; provide
high quality IRL input and facilitation though founding members and senior
associates; honour
and publicise key examples of responsible leadership through the award of
Fellowships of IRL; and promote a charter on responsible leadership for companies
and other organisations.
Colin was invited to become the first Honoured Fellow of the new Institute.
Responsible leaders in both the private and public sector treat stakeholders with integrity to ensure that issues of sustainability, ethics and the wider public interest are best addressed.
This is consistent with the goals of corporate social responsibility where the interest of clients, directors, employees, suppliers, the environment, the community, citizens and future generations are variously taken into account. The co-founders of IRL met and discussed its formation while on a UN working party to discuss the leadership development requirements of senior public sector leaders, whether elected politicians or civil servants.
Since 1994 Colin has led an international governance initiative to tackle corruption, nepotism and exclusion as well as improving the competence of directors and boards. Participants in these activities have included officers and members of parliamentary commissions, state controllers and directors of central banks. Last year he received a CSR Lifetime Achievement Award from India's largest CSR network at its annual CSR leadership summit.
