As a student on the cusp of starting her career, Amy Sutton has a few non-negotiables about where she wants to work. Like many young people, working for a company that pollutes the environment, mistreats staff or churns out unhealthy products simply isn’t an option.
“One of the first things people look at when applying for jobs is the values a business holds – you want to work for a company whose ethics line up with your own,” says the 20-year-old University of Essex student, who is about to start the third year of her marketing management degree . “Open-minded and inclusive businesses have a massive impact [with young job-seekers].”
As Sutton suggests, businesses will need to meet higher standards if they want to recruit and retain the talent they need. Although today many companies are falling over themselves to broadcast their “purpose”, it means little if the person at the top isn’t driven by the same desire for change.
Being a leader in 2026 is unlike anything that came before. The days when a CEO would make employees dread Monday mornings, or only step into the spotlight for the annual AGM, are long gone. Today’s leaders still need to deliver commercial success, true, but also need to look beyond the balance sheet, walking a tightrope between profits, climate commitments, AI ethics and supporting employees’ mental health.
The University of Essex is preparing students for that future. Ethical leadership is woven into the teaching at its business school, from the new corporate sustainability MSc to modules covering social entrepreneurship, good governance and green finance. Having studied at the UK’s 12th best university in the Guardian University Guide 2026 , students step into their careers as purpose-led leaders, with the business nous needed to navigate an increasingly uncertain world.
Doing the right thing needn’t be bad for profits either. The UK’s ethical shopping market is worth about £141bn annually , while 73% of global consumers actively avoid businesses that don’t show empathy, according to a Zurich Insurance Group study.
As a marketing student, Sutton realises the brand value of being a responsible business: after all, a social media shaming can quickly turn companies into pariahs. “Every promotional campaign needs to be ethical and maintain a standard you want the business to represent,” she says.
It’s important for Sutton to study at a university that practises what it preaches when it comes to sustainability. Essex Business School was the UK’s first carbon-zero business school building when it opened in 2015, saving more than a tonne of carbon a day thanks to its efficient timber design and solar panels. “It’s reassuring knowing I’m studying in a building which isn’t harming the environment,” she says. Sutton also likes working in its winter garden, designed to support student wellbeing with its own microclimate, rainwater-harvesting pond and tropical foliage, all under an Eden Project-like domed roof.
At Essex Business School, responsible leadership is felt in the classroom too. “The lecturers here make students feel comfortable – I always feel I can put my hand up in class or say I don’t understand something,” says Sutton. “It’s really helped me come out of my shell. I’m now a student ambassador who gives campus tours and fronts LinkedIn videos about the business school. I couldn’t have done that two years ago.”
For entrepreneur Andew Hulbert, an Essex Business School graduate, that sense of confidence and belonging has had a lasting impact. He went on to found the facilities management service provider Pareto FM in 2014, a company that prides itself on its inclusion policies in the workplace and its ESG initiatives . He recently returned to Essex to deliver a workshop on leadership in the modern day.
“What I always loved about the university was its culture of openness and complete acceptance of freedom of expression,” he says. “Students could come to Essex and truly be who they wanted to be … Coupled with the huge international student presence on site, you couldn’t help but experience new things and become a better, more well-rounded person.”
This culture of openness chimes with the idea of “ psychological safety ” – the phrase describing an environment where employees can ask questions and admit mistakes without fear of embarrassment. A study by Google’s Project Aristotle found that psychological safety was the biggest factor in team success rather than having a superstar entrepreneur at the helm.
“Psychological safety is perhaps the single most important factor for employee wellbeing today,” says Hulbert. “As new generations enter the workforce it is of paramount importance that they can represent themselves as they wish in their chosen workplace. For many generations they were grateful to have a job; now employers have to work just as hard to attract talent. It’s a genuine two-way street. Essex taught me the power of tolerance and acceptance, and the power of bringing people together and allowing them to be themselves.”
Alongside the rise of the “compassionate CEO” (emerging during the pandemic’s daily video check-ins), there’s been a growing trend for leaders to become “corporate activists”, taking a stance on social issues such as environmental pledges or racial inequality. The University of Essex has history here. Since being founded in 1964, it has championed social justice and diversity, whether it’s student protests during the Vietnam war, social progressiveness (it established a day nursery in the 1970s) or that sustainable campus. Its willingness to challenge the status quo has created real-world change through alumni including Nobel peace prize-winning former Costa Rican president Óscar Arias, architect Daniel Libeskind, or historian Anton Jäger, currently turning heads among political cognoscenti with his book, Hyperpolitics .
The international outlook at the university and Essex Business School – students from more than 140 countries learn there – also equips graduates with the global perspective needed to thrive in an increasingly multipolar business world. The university is also known for social mobility and inclusion. Nearly half of students come from families without a history of higher education, while 18% have a disability.
Sutton is already thinking about how responsible business will shape her own career – her dream job is to work in Formula One. With her sights set on a career in social media marketing, she’s well aware of the ethical considerations such a role entails. “[Marketers] have a responsibility to ensure social media is used responsibly,” she says. “Keeping users’ data secure is also important, as is content: information needs to come from credible sources.”
As she considers her career ahead, Sutton believes responsible leadership starts with something simple: creating an environment where people feel valued. “If you want to run a team, you need to make people feel confident they can talk to you when they don’t understand things,” she says. “The University of Essex 100% makes me feel that way.”
Find out more about studying for a marketing or business degree at Essex Business School
“One of the first things people look at when applying for jobs is the values a business holds – you want to work for a company whose ethics line up with your own,” says the 20-year-old University of Essex student, who is about to start the third year of her marketing management degree . “Open-minded and inclusive businesses have a massive impact [with young job-seekers].”
This report is published with credit to theguardian.com. Full available text from the wire is above. Read on theguardian.com →
Source: theguardian.com · Christian Koch. Published 3 Sept 2026, 02:47 pm.
