Examples of Japan’s Deliberate Leadership in Impact Investing Courage Courage is reflected in the leaders highlighted throughout these chapters and cases. For example, the decade-long effort by SIIF and its partners to build a movement for impact capital in Japan wasn’t easy. These leaders faced skepticism, resistance, and uncertainty. But they pushed forward with collaborative problem solving and knowing the importance of creating a system where capital could drive meaningful, positive change. Collaboration Reaching out to individuals and organizations with diverse perspectives can spark unique innovations. 9 Studies have shown that diverse groups—whether in terms of gender, culture, or experience—tend to come up with more innovative solutions than those that are more alike. 10 These voices can come from various sectors, including businesses, the arts, social services, social media, and journalism. Internal collaborations across teams and departments, along with external partnerships, also play a key role. Building boundary- less organizations and fostering partnerships help break down silos, enabling the free flow of knowledge. Leaders today must be able to harness ideas, people, and resources from across boundaries of all kinds. Catalytic alliances have been used effectively to build diverse collaborations. 11 These alliances operate at the leading edge of social reform by leveraging resources and mobilizing others to act without directly intervening. 12 They work through a network of organizations to address complex social issues. By sharing risk and aligning efforts toward a common vision, catalytic alliances create opportunities for all involved to succeed without stepping on each other’s toes. The nature of partnerships required to build an impact investing ecosystem increases the complexity of management processes, as each partner seeks to maximize the returns for their own organization while achieving the aims of the partnership. It requires clear governance and transparent decision-making processes. By building on the resource complementarities of the partners, the intended outcome is that all players in the ecosystem gain from the partnership. Deliberate Leadership requires the humility to recognize that no one person has the answers. Instead, it’s about working together listening to all relevant voices, democratizing decision-making, and accepting that solutions will be imperfect and evolve over time. In
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Ten Years in the Making
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