“One of the most powerful things that a young person can have is deep-tissue mentorship”

Exclusive interview with Dominic Wilhelm, founder of The Global Trust Project. Dominic was a moderator at the inaugural edition of Africa’s Green Economy Summit and is a member of the advisory board for the next edition in 2024. 

Let’s start with some background on you. What is The Global Trust Project?

The Global Trust Project is all about building trust-rich pathways for what matters most. And the reason why that’s a good idea is when you get trust into the room, things work a lot better, dramatically better. There’s a huge swath of evidence that demonstrates that with trust in the room, things work better interpersonally, organisationally, institutionally, and also societally and across all dimensions; they work better socially, economically, dramatically so, and also environmentally. So, my job in this world is to help others at every dimension, through every dimension and at every level to operate, understand and operationalise trust.   

Let’s talk about leadership in extraordinary times.

I think every moment in history is extraordinary, but I think what is perhaps lacking at this point in time is a common understanding of what leadership in fact is. We’ve always lived in a complex world, but it does seem to be extraordinarily complex now. It’s a hugely unpredictable, alive and dynamic system. And leadership in that context is really about taking a systemic view, identifying leverage points, so you can shape the system. So I think systemic leadership has a lot to offer in an extraordinarily complex world. 

Any specific projects that you are working on that you are particularly excited about? How will these change people’s lives?

At the risk of sounding trite, every project I work on now, for me personally, has a deep element of excitement. Let me use an example. I’ve just wrapped up a project with one of the oldest companies in the world. It’s currently one of the largest companies in the world: so, deeply entrenched norms. A wonderful company, though, and I was excited and this links on to how it’s changed people’s lives. I was excited about this project, in particular, because despite its history, when the nature of trust and the implications of trust are demystified, it is an incredibly animating experience, not only for the organisation, not only for the professional individual in the organisation but for that person in life. And that excites me. That moment of demystification of the nature and implications of trust. It’s really a wonderful thing to witness. 

Regarding green economy, are we focusing too much on the challenges to the green economy instead of actual projects?

This reminds me of a saying, “Better are the hands that do than the lips that pray.” And that for me really emphasises the fact that we should be doing more than we are talking. So yes, I think always, there’s a risk of talking more than we’re doing. 

And I think one of the great challenges of the notion of a green economy or transition, a green transition, is de-risking projects, maturing projects, and making them practical and financeable. And making a project financeable isn’t necessarily about traditional financial models. And on that note, I think we would do good to understand a little bit more about what the full impact investment spectrum actually means.  

So with regards to financing, I think there’s still a misunderstanding with regards to what finance means when it comes to green projects. So firstly, with regards to finance, there’s an entire investment spectrum from pure philanthropy through to investors that are looking for competitive returns, but simply want to do no harm. And depending on how one interacts with that full investment spectrum will determine how you de-risk a project structure or project and make it practical for the point at which you’re interacting with the full investment spectrum because it has different requirements and different expectations. So it adds a new dimension for some to what it means to blend finance and structure a project. So that’s what I mean by interacting with the impact investment spectrum.  

The second element that I think is worth exploring, and where there may be some confusion is the notion of the green economy. It isn’t merely “about the environment.” Everything is connected. This harks back to what I mentioned earlier about systemic leadership or systemic approach to leadership. When we talk about the green economy, we’re not only talking about stewardship of our physical environment, we still need to bear in mind the social elements and, as I just mentioned, the finance elements. So yes, we talk about the green economy, but I think a systemic approach and what the green economy actually means would be worth some clarity. 

And also, let me add something else. I don’t think it’s popularly understood how incredibly active and successful the interaction with the impact investment in spectrum is. I think of GIIN, the Global Impact Innovation Network, and the reports that it puts out annually. Those who are investing in the impact investment spectrum are enjoying incredible returns, and I think 10 and 12% of capital markets worth around $200 trillion annually are engaging the impact investment spectrum, and the returns are very, very favourable. That portion of global capital markets has grown quite considerably, and it’s been said, by more than one, that if you create a sustainable investment project, it will be invested in.  

June was Youth Month in South Africa. There is huge unemployment in the country, particularly among young people. How can young people be inspired to be part of the movement towards a greener economy?

How can young people being inspired, I think I’m more interested in although there’s merit and inspiration, there really is that does something neurologically it, if one can be inspired, our behaviours are inevitably impacted? I get that. However, at this point, I’m more interested in enablement. There’s inspiration all over. I think, generally speaking, or this is a generalisation, young people do have it in them, that they can change the world. But I think what is lacking are the tools to change the world. There are many tools out there and many approaches and they’re applicable in different ways depending on where a young person is.  

In our context, the so-called developing context, I think one of the most powerful things that a young person can have in their life is deep-tissue mentorship, someone or a group of people who can work with an individual or individuals and better enable them to understand the nature of a complex environment, empower them with a value set that understands better, innovation, entrepreneurship, humility… and in addition to that, endurance. I think those are all practical tools and values, which are invaluable in the world that we live in today. Because one thing that certainly doesn’t exist in our complex world today is straight lines. So if we can better enable young people to navigate a world like that, in which there are very few if any straight lines but more complex setting, I think I think we can add some value to young people’s lives. 

Which African countries are doing the right things in your opinion?

I think if one takes the magnifying glass to pretty much any country, on any continent in the world, you will find extraordinary people doing extraordinary things. Packaging, a group of people as a country and saying, this country as a whole is doing something fantastic, can be problematic. However, if one looks for those countries who are actively building trust, you will find, the evidence shows us, extraordinary things happening in greater measure. So I’m interested in looking at countries where trust exists. And the reason for that is that if one takes trust, seriously, you’re looking at three things, you taking integrity seriously. You’re taking benevolence or being considerate about the larger picture seriously. And you’re taking the notion of excellence or capabilities seriously. And with those three principles in play, where you can find those three principles, you will find the extraordinary happening, irrespective of where that may be. 

You were part of the conference line-up at the inaugural Africa’s Green Economy Summit in February 2023. What were your impressions and how important is such an event for the continent?

Well, my first impression is that it was a first summit of its kind, and it was so incredibly well-attended and the energy in the room, so to speak, was intense. People were there purposefully, eager to learn, and the net was thrown wide. People came from all over the continent, and even further afield. So in a nutshell, I think my impression was that the African continent and beyond are eager for this type of this type of content. And eager really, even though this phrase has been used so many times before, to make a difference, and a substantive difference. So that was my impression.  

How important is a green economy summit for the African continent? I think one way of expressing the importance is I’m not sure what the future holds for the African continent, if we can’t get a green economic transition done.

What is your message for the upcoming event?

My message for the upcoming summit is perhaps a challenge for all of us, including myself: Challenge yourself to not walk away, to not allow yourself to walk away from the summit without a meaningful amount of projects earmarked that you will be pursuing, and stick to it.  

Anything you would like to add?

Ever since we walked off the African continent about 60 to 90,000 years ago, we took everything with us we needed to build prosperous cities, prosperous nations, and really, to flourish as human beings. And that ability neurologically is the ability to know who is trustworthy, and to build trust. And I think to a large extent, we’ve forgotten that we’ve forgotten that trust does indeed exist. Trustworthiness is possible. And I think it’s up to us to recover what trust means, today, what it means for the green economy, and to really operationalise that in practical ways. Because the evidence is clear, that if you can bring trust back into the room, at every level across every dimension, the chances for human flourishing are greatly heightened.