As you put the Halloween decorations away for another year, are you one of the many people thinking twice about that age old tradition of carving a pumpkin? 

#pumpkinrescue is trending on social media as organizations and consumers alike raise awareness of unnecessary food waste that the Halloween tradition creates. According to Hubbub, in the U.K., 18,000 tons of pumpkin go to landfill every year (that is the equivalent of 360 million portions of pumpkin pie) and many people have had enough, using the hashtag to encourage consumers to eat the remains of their pumpkin instead. 

Concerns around food waste are no fad. Our latest research, The Concerned Consumer, found that food waste is a key issue globally, with 63% of consumers telling us they do their bit to address food waste. This is particularly important for consumers in the UK and the US, where the figure rises to 71%. 

Keen to explore this topic in more detail, we’ve been digging into the conversations around food waste on Twitter, using a comparative analytics tool called Relative Insight. 

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So aside from discussions around #pumpkinrescue, how is food waste being discussed online?

Freezing food is a key topic of conversation. It is seen as a sustainable way to keep food fresh for longer, minimizing food waste overall. And while thinking about pumpkins (which is a fruit by the way – yes, we googled it), we found that consumers are generally confused about whether they can or can’t freeze certain vegetables and fruit.

Another popular topic around food waste is finding a purpose for food scraps. Consumers are calling for more recipe suggestions incorporating vegetable scraps, or ways of composting it. Take a pumpkin as an example; the flesh can be used in pies and bread, the guts can be used for broth and mulled wine, the skin is edible in small varieties, and the seeds can be roasted. 

Want to discover more about the environmental, ethical and health concerns driving purchase behaviour in food and drink? Download our Concerned Consumer research.

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The role of leadership is not what you think. The likelihood is, the more you think of yourself as an expert in leadership – the less likely you are to be a ‘great leader’. If, when you try and picture a great leader you see Steve Jobs, Jack Ma, Nelson Mandela or Elon Musk. You are probably even further away. Let me explain.

The Rugby World cup is currently on in Japan. A feast of games that has already thrown up an unlikely result such as Japan beating Ireland. The Premier League is also in full swing and it brings an interesting contrast to what a ‘Captain’ looks like for each. I have been lucky enough to captain both a rugby team and a football team (in my younger, fitter days). And the difference is huge. In rugby, you must choose a strategy. When given a penalty, you pick from 1 of 4 potential restarts. It is the captain’s choice and the right decisions at the right time can hugely influence the result. For football, as a recent article talking about the potential for Maguire to be a future captain of Manchester United said, you just have to shout loudly.

So is Elon Musk or Steve Jobs more of a rugby or football captain? Probably neither. They are perhaps more of a Tiger Woods (let’s keep the sporting analogies going!). Tiger Woods has a caddy who helps him immensely. But he has to have his own strategy, play his own way. And he has to execute every shot. That is Elon Musk. He knows more about his products than anybody else. Steve Jobs knew exactly what he wanted to do with his products.

So a leader has to be an expert, know the strategy or shout loudly? According to a new book from HBR – a leader is simply someone who has a follower. This is perhaps a better reference for the workplace – rather than sporting analogies. I am sure there are many people that we have all worked with over the years that have been put into a position of ‘leadership’ that makes you question … why? The problem, in a larger organization, is that people are mandated to follow. They HAVE to do what their boss says. They don’t follow willingly. They are forced. But that person is still a leader, because they have a ‘follower’.

There are so many books, publications, articles and how tos about leadership, that it is almost impossible to navigate the viewpoints with a clear understanding of what makes a great leader (and I do realize the irony of writing this within a blog about the role of leadership).

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How do you identify a leader?

Within an organizational context, how do you find the ‘next great leader’? If the ‘bosses’ are not great and their ‘followers’ only do as the boss decides – how do you identify the next best? For me, that is the opportunity for the organization. If the company culture and initiatives can be geared up to provide everyone with an equal opportunity – then does the cream naturally rise to the top?

In the past, Kadence has worked with ICLIF – a not for profit that specializes in leadership development. Part of a piece of work that we did was a 28 market study on leadership. It was part of the context for a book written about open source leadership. Within this book it was argued that because of a 24/7 world of connectivity, true leadership can not be done in the same way as before. That at the end of the day ‘leadership is more than an art than a science’ . As such, books on ‘how to lead’ simply don’t work.

One of the key areas of the book raised the question about how to find leaders within your organization. The suggest was ‘Throw out challenges to the entire employee base and see who comes forward to showcase their talent and energy. Those who raise their hands year after year to solve company problems or exploit revenue opportunities are your natural leaders for tomorrow.’

This is great leadership. Having an organization that allows those with passion and desire to showcase it off. It is not about forcing Harry Maguire to shout, it is about giving a voice to those that want to. So instead of thinking about individuals that are great leaders, perhaps we should be thinking about cultures that allow innovation to thrive? That the role of leadership is not to lead, but to set up a system that allows people to work on their best ideas.