In this episode of “AfterShock to 2030”, Caroline Stokes sits down with Alison Taylor, executive director of Ethical Systems, clinical professor at NYU Stern and author of “Higher Ground”. They examine what’s next for leadership, ethics, and credibility in a world where idealism alone isn’t enough.
Together, they explore:
• Why overpromising on ethics and sustainability sets companies up for failure, and how to rebuild trust through realism, not rhetoric.
• How AI hype is the new distraction, repeating the same leadership mistakes of the dot-com boom.
• The burnout crisis inside ethics and sustainability teams, and what that reveals about leadership’s moral bandwidth.
• The CEOs redefining success by choosing one issue they can lead on credibly, instead of pretending to solve everything.
• Why courageous listening and proximity to impact are now the most underrated strategic skills of the Fifth Industrial Revolution.
More about Alison Taylor:
Alison Taylor is a clinical associate professor at NYU Stern School of Business, and the executive director at Ethical Systems. Her previous work experience includes being a managing director at non-profit business network BSR and a senior managing director at Control Risks. She holds sustainability advisory roles at KKR and Unilever, and advises many other firms on strategic integrity challenges. She has expertise in strategy, sustainability, political and social risk, culture and behavior, human rights, ethics and compliance, stakeholder engagement, anti-corruption and professional responsibility.
Alison’s book, “Higher Ground: How Business Can do the Right Thing in a Turbulent World”, was published by Harvard Business Review Press in February 2024, and won the 2024 Porchlight Award for best leadership and strategy book. She received her Bachelor of Arts in Modern History from Balliol College, Oxford University, her MA in International Relations from the University of Chicago, and MA in Organizational Psychology from Columbia University.
Higher Ground on Substack: https://findhigherground.substack.com/