“For there is always light, if only we’re brave enough to see it. If only we’re brave enough to be it.”

Poet Amanda Gorman penned these words in 2021, but the very choice she presents is what compelled Sir Richard Branson and Jochen Zeitz to co-found The B Team, our global collective of business and civil society leaders.

The founding B Team Leaders came together in 2013, united in the belief that business has both the capacity and the responsibility to become a driving force for social, environmental and economic benefit.

A decade later, we look back on important milestones on our journey in this report, The B Team at 10.

We also recognize that the world is a more complicated place today — inequality is rising, biodiversity is declining and climate change is intensifying. At the same time, a growing global movement of leaders is determined to build a just and sustainable future, convinced that our challenges can be transformed into opportunities.

The most important decade for humankind requires leadership that is transparent, inclusive and radically collaborative. So let’s accelerate this movement and mobilize. Each of us has a role to play in shaping the future we share.

IT’S TIME TO BE BOLD. NEW LEADERSHIP MUST TAKE US FORWARD.

More than a retrospective, The B Team at 10 is our invitation to CEOs, board directors, business schools, mission-aligned funders and leaders of all stripes: Join us on this 10x bolder leadership journey. We go further when we go together. Let’s catalyze a new leadership model that places humanity at the heart of business purpose and rejects the pursuit of profit without principles.

Encouragingly, we are on the point of breakthroughs that will help us deliver the world we want and need — a world in which we truly love where we live and work. Within our reach is a future where global inequality gaps are closed, inclusion is embraced as a driver of innovation and businesses thrive with accountability and integrity at their core.

If we lead together, we can restore trust, “right the rules” of the modern economy and achieve a just transition to a climate neutral, people- and nature-positive future. Our ambition and optimism are high, and the role for business is clear. We can build a better world if leaders everywhere commit to bold and collaborative actions, today.

How will you choose to lead?

Halla Tómasdóttir (CEO, The B Team) and Jesper Brodin (CEO, Ingka Group | IKEA & Chair, The B Team)