What kind of business thrives in today’s world – one shaped by geopolitical instability, climate urgency, AI disruption, and widening inequality?
According to Sacha Romanovitch, former CEO of Grant Thornton and a leading advocate for purpose-led business, success in this environment comes not from doubling down on competition, but from redefining what business is for.
Known for her radical thinking and people-first leadership, Sacha spent over 25 years at Grant Thornton, becoming its first female CEO and transforming the firm into a more inclusive, progressive organization. She championed diversity, openness, and shared enterprise, and led a cultural shift that placed values and purpose at the heart of business. Her leadership earned the firm accolades for social mobility and innovation, and she was ranked among the UK’s top 50 CEOs on Glassdoor. Today, she is CEO of Fair4All Finance, an organization dedicated to financial inclusion.
Sasha delivered a keynote presentation at PPN’s Finance Transformation Summit. Here are some key takeaways and practical ideas from her recent talk on building organizations that are fit for the future.
1. Ask Bigger Questions
Before jumping into strategy or performance targets, step back and ask:
- Why are we doing this?
- Who benefits from our work, and who doesn’t?
- Are we solving the right problems?
Romanovitch points to the UN Sustainable Development Goals as a helpful framework for business. They offer non-binary goals (not just profit or purpose, but both) and encourage companies to consider how they can contribute to global wellbeing.
2. Shift from Competition to Collaboration
In many traditional companies, hierarchy and competition dominate. This can stifle innovation and even create environments where good people feel pressured to make bad decisions.
Romanovitch argues that shared enterprise (sharing ideas, responsibility, and rewards) unlocks more sustainable results. The goal is not just to beat the competition, but to solve useful problems together.
Ask yourself:
- How are decisions made in your organization?
- Are the people affected by change part of the conversation?
- Are rewards tied to collective outcomes, or individual targets?
3. Use Technology to Free Up Human Potential
AI and automation are changing work dramatically. But instead of fearing these tools, Romanovitch sees them as an opportunity to remove the tasks humans were never meant to do—repetitive, draining work that limits creativity.
Takeaway: Use AI not just to cut costs, but to expand capacity for human insight, innovation, and care.
4. Rethink Design with Inclusion in Mind
One of the most powerful ideas from the session: “The world works well by design for some people—and not for others.”
Example: direct debits (great for those with stable incomes, risky for those without).
Tip: Audit your services, systems, and policies.
Ask: Who is this built for—and who might it be unintentionally excluding?
5. Understand Culture Beyond Buzzwords
Culture isn’t just values on a poster. It’s how decisions are made, what stories are told, how rewards are structured, and what behaviors are modeled.
As Romanovitch puts it, “Culture is held in the stories we tell.”
Try this: Look around your workplace.
- What behaviors are actually rewarded?
- What stories do people tell about “how things are done here”?
- What does your physical space say about what matters?
6. Adopt a Three-Horizon View
Business leaders often focus on delivery and short-term goals. But long-term success requires seeing the future as well:
- Horizon 1: The Manager – delivers current performance
- Horizon 2: The Entrepreneur – spots new opportunities
- Horizon 3: The Visionary – imagines what could be
Takeaway: Make space in your organization for all three roles. The visionary might not hit today’s KPIs—but they might save your business five years from now.
Final Thought: Hold the Torch
Leadership today isn’t about certainty—it’s about courage. The courage to think differently, include more voices, and imagine better outcomes.
Sacha Romanovitch reminded us that, sometimes, real progress begins with a single person choosing to hold up the light for others.
In times of complexity and change, leadership isn’t about having all the answers—it’s about being brave enough to ask better questions, challenge outdated norms, and imagine new possibilities.
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