Is sport a mechanism for responsible leadership?

Can struggling SMEs find the room and resource for social responsibility right now?

Benchmark CEO, Nick Keller talks about the challenges and pressures facing today’s leadership, in an increasingly fragmented world.

Through his Benchmark collective - a holding group for organisations including global foundation Beyond Sport, think Beyond, NSE (National Student Esport), Sport Industry Group and Square Mile Sport - Nick helps an already-strained business community to navigate increased demand for greater social equity and care in the workplace, adopt a more compassionate approach, and create lasting social impact.

In a business world demanding increasing levels of transparency, Keller believes that sport has a greater role to play in helping companies and brands bridge their desire for growth with core financial and social objectives.

“If you look at leadership roles, they've got significantly more on their agenda than they had five years ago. From understanding the new culture of working and supporting the mental health of our employees, to ensuring we are building high functioning teams and competing for top talent at the same time.

“COP26 in Glasgow was a key moment for the climate and sustainability conversation. Plus there was the Black Lives Matter movement, which was a wakeup call on inclusion, diversity and equity in the workplace.

“So, if you look at leadership - not just across the five million SMEs in the UK but across the whole ecosystem from multinationals down - the leaders in those organisations have multifaceted challenges they have never faced before. And there's no reason why someone who leads a business should be able to singularly unravel some of these emotive and complex areas, and recognise the risk or opportunity they present.”

As more Gen Z consumers enter the market, decision-making is shifting and authenticity and social responsibility from brands is becoming a greater priority. This means that what was once optional has now become a necessity.

“I see an interesting decade ahead for sport,” says the Benchmark CEO. “Sports people are now amongst the highest ranked in terms of people trusted by society - certainly ahead of politicians and business leaders at the moment.”

Keller believes from a societal perspective, some of the key challenges not only require policy change but also behavioural change - and this is where sport comes in.

“If we are going to shift societal action around some of these challenging issues, sport can be an incredibly powerful driver.

How do you persuade billions of people to change their behaviour and consume differently - from what they eat to how they travel? Sport has the capacity to act as a megaphone and a platform to selling – just take its 2.5 billion football fans in the world, half a billion NFL fans, and the billion people that watch cricket, for example. It has the capacity to create entire movements across different cultures.

“Before all that can happen, however, sport also has to walk the walk. Through our consultancy, think Beyond, our job is to help the teams, leagues, arenas, big stage tournaments and brands manage their own sustainability impact to mitigate risk from supply chain, consumer and employee demands, and find opportunity to effect positive change for both the organisation and society at large.”

For the SME world, the skill is to find a way in which the social impact initiatives drive brand equity and business value at the same time. It’s not about charity or sponsorship - there is a business benefit too.

“Which needs some heavy thinking…” says Keller.

The sort of initiatives that Benchmark can put together are many and varied but nearly all are bespoke according to the needs of the companies and communities involved.

For businesses struggling to find an answer to their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) quandary, Keller and his connections will have the answer. Contact