It's a Red Flag: What Every Social Entrepreneur Can Learn from HSBC

Stuart Kirk probably wasn't looking for the type of publicity he received following his presentation at the Financial Times' Moral Money Summit. During his presentation entitled "Why investors need not worry about climate risk", he minimized the risks of major floods. He later went on to say: "Who cares if Miami is six meters underwater in 100 years? Amsterdam has been six meters underwater for ages and that's a really nice place."

Needless to say, this type of thinking is quite concerning coming from someone who leads HSBC's responsible investing team. Yet herein lies the problem.

As our world becomes more interested in social impact and sustainable business practices, we will find ourselves trying to manage old and new schools of thought. HSBC as an organization sees the opportunity and is positioning itself to provide $1 trillion of sustainable finance and investment by 2030. And while Mr. Kirk may not speak for the bank, the misalignment between the bank's strategic plan and its personnel is concerning.

This misalignment becomes hard to overlook from one of the world's largest banking institutions, but should serve as a warning to all business leaders committed to social impact and sustainability.

Is your vision for your organization translating to your team or are you asking people to fill roles that they can't serve in authentically. Have you infused your mission and values into all aspects of the business? This means that part of the hiring process includes vetting applicants for their alignment with your deeper purpose and choosing to work with service providers who operate in a manner compatible with you.

Ultimately, the more we as entrepreneurs walk the talk, the better positioned we are to serve our clients and customers in a way that can withstand the scrutiny that the ESG space will continue to experience as it becomes more mainstream.