Sustainability | Corporate Vision Strategists®

Corporate Vision Strategists actively supports the work of our affiliate think tank Gold Mercury International because we share a common set of values: Improving global governance through visionary and ethical leadership.

Our alliance with Gold Mercury is an expression of our shared vision for the future of the world. Working in concert, we look to the future, researching how the world is changing, and developing strategies for visionary leadership and global governance throughout the world. Together, Corporate Vision Strategists and Gold Mercury International focus on critical areas of improving global governance:

- World peace
- Corporate social responsibility
- The environment
- Health
- Humanitarian and human rights activities
- International cooperation and development
- Economic progress
- The importance of free media

Each year, we honour the work of the world’s Visionary Leaders in these areas by co-sponsoring the prestigious Gold Mercury Awards and Forums. Since its founding in 1961, Gold Mercury has been a pioneer institution in identifying and rewarding individuals and institutions that made progress in these key challenge areas of Global Governance.

Gold Mercury International and Corporate Vision Strategists share a common vision of what good governance entails. Our guiding principles of good governance are:

	Strategic and sustainable vision - Leaders should have a broad and long-term perspective on governance and human development and a sense of what is needed for such development. In other words, they must work to provide for the needs of the world's current population without damaging the ability of future generations to provide for themselves.
	Participation - Those affected by a decision should have a voice in the decision-making process, either directly or through legitimate institutions that represent their interests.
	Rule of law - Legal frameworks should be fair and enforced impartially, and all people should be equal before the law.
	Transparency - Processes, institutions and information should be directly accessible to those concerned with them.
	Responsiveness - Institutions and processes should endeavour to serve all stakeholders.
	Consensus orientation - Differing interests should be mediated to reach a broad consensus on what is in the best interests of those involved.
	Equity - All individuals should have opportunities to improve or maintain their well-being.
	Efficiency - Processes and institutions should produce results that meet needs while making the best use of resources.
	Accountability - Decision-makers in government, the private sector, and civil society organisations should be accountable to the public and to institutional stakeholders.

Gold Mercury: Symbolising excellence in Visionary Leadership.

At its creation in 1961, Gold Mercury International adopted as its brand the symbol of the famous gold statue of the Roman and Greek god "Mercury" (Hermes), the mythological messenger of the gods and patron of trade, commerce and travel.

Believed to be the inventor of all the arts, Mercury was regarded as a great mediator and able of reconciling disparate or contradictory beliefs by melding practices of various schools of thought. As a chemical element, alchemists often thought of Mercury as the First Matter from which all metals were formed.

The original gold statue of Mercury, which is also shared as a symbol with our consulting think tank Corporate Vision Strategists was designed in circa 1564 by the Flemish sculptor Jean Boulogne ("Gianbologna") and presently resides at the National Museum of the Bargello in Florence.

Our symbol represents our values of Visionary Leadership, excellence in governance and peace and cooperation through commerce.

For more on Global Governance and ethical leadership please visit:
www.goldmercury.org