The growing pressures of sustainability from an organisation’s external and internal stakeholders and regulators have brought about a stronger need for leaders to be stewards. Unlike traditional leadership qualities, stewardship in business demands accountability to future generations by balancing purpose with performance.
Stewardship in the corporate context means accepting responsibility for the long-term health of the organisation and the systems it touches: people, communities and the environment. Unlike traditional leadership, which often prioritises short-to-medium-term operational results, stewardship explicitly balances purpose with performance and foregrounds accountability to future generations.
Stewardship vs. Sustainable Leadership
While sustainable leadership focuses on embedding sustainability practices into strategy and operations, stewardship reframes leadership itself. For example, decisions are evaluated not only for financial return, but for intergenerational impact.
In simpler terms, sustainable leadership asks, “How do we grow responsibly?” and Stewardship asks, “How do we preserve and regenerate value for those who come after us?”
How Stewardship impacts the individual, organisation and community
When stewardship is ingrained within organisations, its effects multiply across levels.
- At the individual level, people experience higher engagement and purpose because their work connects to a broader mission.
- Within the organisation, stewardship leads to resilience within employees, where teams make decisions that preserve capacity, reputations are protected, and strategy integrates social and environmental performance alongside financial metrics.
- For communities, steward organisations contribute to social good. For example, investing in local development, building trust and leaving a constructive legacy for future generations.
Stewardship as a choice
These outcomes are not automatic. Capital flows, regulatory incentives and reporting frameworks help, but internal culture matters most. Organisations need leadership that embeds stewardship into daily decision-making so that the principle of stewardship is more than a statement; it becomes the way choices are made.
The next wave of organisational resilience will be won by those who reframe leadership as stewardship. Steward Leaders do not choose between purpose and performance. They design organisations where both coexist and reinforce one another. In Asia and beyond, steward leadership is already producing stronger governance, more resilient companies and healthier communities.
Real-life examples of Stewardship
Examples of Stewardship and Steward Leaders can be found everywhere, not just in business. In the corporate world, there are a few notable examples of stewardship, as highlighted in the article titled "Steward Leadership" in Singapore Management University’s Asian Management Insight (Volume 8, Issue 1) by SMU's Centre for Case Learning Excellence.
The Ayala Foundation: Since its inception in 1834, the family business has contributed significantly to nation-building, cementing its social commitment to respond to the country’s changing needs over time. It aims to be relevant to the community by upholding the philosophy of inclusiveness, especially in providing critical goods and services at affordable prices for the masses.
As the seventh-generation leader, Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala says, “The capitalist model is vitally important to all of us, and to the world we live in, but it has to adjust to having a greater responsibility for the way the world works. Today, there has been a lot of discussion about the longevity and engagement with society in different ways…the big insight I got was the need for our institution to be far more inclusive than it was."
In fact, back in the 1960s, the founders of Ayala Foundation—the philanthropic and development arm of the listed company—were already committed to this higher cause. This dedication to improving people’s quality of life remains evident in current times. We saw that as the current pandemic unfolded, Ayala steadfastly stepped up its efforts in disaster relief work and provided timely assistance to the wider community.
Such a consistent and persistent focus on creating shared growth, understanding mutual needs, and building reciprocal relationships with stakeholders is what interdependence is about. It is not about winning alone but uplifting the country, communities, organisations, and individuals to create a better shared future collectively. No doubt winning together is harder work, but the best leaders accept the challenge.
Netflix: Netflix perfectly exemplifies how businesses should empower employees with the stewardship mentality; thinking and acting like an owner, even if one is a manager or an employee.
The media-streaming titan adopts a no-rule policy, empowering and trusting employees to make decisions. Only broad parameters such as “Use good judgment” and “Act in Netflix’s best interests” are used. As the company demonstrates, when employees are given freedom and autonomy, it can fuel in them a strong sense of ownership.
Reed Hastings, the co-founder of Netflix, writes: “For our employees, transparency has become the biggest symbol of how much we trust them to act responsibly. The trust we demonstrate in them in turn generates feelings of ownership, commitment, and responsibility.” Employees at Netflix are well-supported during this empowerment process. The winning formula is to exercise transparency by providing them with accessibility to information. The key, according to Netflix, is to give context, not control. By understanding contexts and matchmaking volition, rather than merely expertise and skills, the 24-year-old company has gained a leg up in employee engagement.
DBS: Singapore-based DBS Bank epitomises the qualities of creative resilience in overcoming setbacks and challenges. To combat obsolescence in an industry facing tectonic shifts, DBS embarked on its journey of digital transformation a decade ago. Departing from the piecemeal approach, the bank went through deep, radical shifts to ensure it became digital to the core to best serve its customers.
Former CEO Piyush Gupta cautions that it is not enough to just apply digital ‘lipstick’ if one desires real change, saying, “If you want to make change real, and if you really want to make change cohesive, then you have to attack the core.” Indeed, the bank has instituted systemic changes, which include building a culture that embraces technology, encourages innovative experimentations, and cultivates the capacity for the profound shift. Institutional support, especially in terms of learning, was given to reskill and upskill all employees to bolster their digital proficiency. By consistently reimagining the bank as a start-up and emphasising the cultural value of innovation, it managed to address the challenges of reform.
In 2019, DBS scored a historic first by holding three global best bank titles concurrently from Euromoney, Global Finance, and The Banker, an unrivalled feat made possible by its pursuit to thrive in spite of disruption. Adding to its string of accolades, the bank was again named the top bank in 2020 according to Global Finance for its resilience during the pandemic in meeting the tremendous demand for digital banking services.
The concept of stewardship is not limited to the business sector
It is also important to note that stewardship is not limited to the business sector, as Dr Flocy Joseph points out, referring to the Tham Luang cave rescue.
Steward Leaders often stand out in the most harrowing situations. The dynamics and principles of Stewardship were clearly demonstrated on several levels in the 2018 incident, which involved a multinational effort to rescue twelve young football players and their coach who were trapped in a flooded cave in Thailand.
The operation required complex coordinated action across local authorities, international diving specialists, volunteers, and government agencies. These individuals and institutions assumed custodial responsibility beyond their formal obligations."
Dr Flocy Joseph
Co-Programme Director
Senior Deputy Director, Head of Commercial
SMU Executive Development
"They navigated risks with a long-term goal of ensuring the wellbeing of those trapped in the cave and, with this shared purpose, built trust through their actions," she added. "These dynamics reflect what stewardship looks like in business, i.e. putting people and systemic outcomes at the centre of decision-making, even when that requires personal and organisational sacrifice."
Want to learn more about Stewardship?
Learn more about how you can become a Steward Leader for your organisation with SMU’s Steward Leadership Advantage. The programme offers participants to translate the principles of stewardship into practical governance, talent and strategy tools, empowering them to do what’s right for the future while enabling sustainable growth.
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