Peripheral Vision-Systematically tracks emerging social, environmental and regulatory expectations of the company and identifies their short- mid- and long-term implications for the company.

Peripheral Vision

Interest in the world and social and business issues that enables one to see new opportunities and risks.

A constant curiosity and interest in the world around them is essential for corporate citizenship leaders to succeed. Good Peripheral Vision in this context is a critical characteristic of corporate citizenship leaders. They constantly scan the horizon both inside and outside their company to check out trends and changes in society that might impact the role or reputation of the organization, or present new opportunities or potential risks. They generally focus on the issues that are most relevant to their organization, but keep a broad awareness of social and economic trends and events that could bring new concerns to the surface.

One leader displayed Peripheral Vision when he said this to his colleagues:

"You can disagree whether this is right, you can disagree whether it's good thinking or bad thinking, but the outside world thinks in this way. They think that if you're buying steel in Brazil from a company who sources its fuel from a rainforest or who uses child labor, you in Dearborn, Michigan, are accountable for that child labor. Now, you can debate whether that is a logical thought process or not, that's fine, but that’s the way the world is currently thinking."

Peripheral Vision competency developmental scale
Foundational	Intermediate	Advanced
Demonstrates a strong understanding of key social and environmental issues and stakeholder expectations of the company. Has a basic understanding of business strategy and can identify emerging issues that are a priority for the company.	Maintains a network of key internal and external stakeholders and can quickly gather information necessary to develop appropriate response strategies for emerging issues. Participates in industry and multi-stakeholder forums to stay on top of industry trends and best practices in corporate citizenship management.	Systematically tracks emerging social, environmental and regulatory expectations of the company and identifies their short- mid- and long-term implications for the company. Understands the impact of these trends on business strategy down to individual business unit level.