Increasingly, leaders across the public and private sectors are paying greater attention to the responsibility they hold as custodians of the world around us. But there is one organisation in the UK in particular that has a very literal relationship to this responsibility: The Crown Estate. 

The 260-year-old independent business uniquely sits between private and public sectors, safeguarding over two centuries of rich heritage. The Crown Estate was formed back in 1760 when King George III gave control over the Crown Lands to Parliament. It means that while the sovereign owns the estate during their reign, it is not their private property and they do not manage or make decisions about its assets.

And when it comes to being a custodian of the future, The Crown Estate isn’t talking metaphorically: thousands of acres of land and property making up a £16 billion portfolio – urban centres and development opportunities; a large rural holding; prime West End real estate and Windsor Great Park – are under its care. It also includes the seabed and some coastlines around England, Wales and Northern Ireland. Focused on the energy transition and improving the UK’s energy security, The Crown Estate plays a major role in the UK’s world-leading offshore wind sector. It also supports inclusive communities, drives economic growth and productivity and stewards the protection and restoration of nature. At the heart of its operations is a simple yet profound purpose: to create lasting and shared prosperity for the nation. 

Dan Labbad joined The Crown Estate as Chief Executive in 2019, previously holding a number of senior positions at the global property and infrastructure group Lendlease. Here, he talks to CEO and Co-founder of The Beautiful Truth Group, Adam Penny, about prosperity, stewardship and the importance of long-term perspective.

Adam: How does the longevity of The Crown Estate impact the way that you make decisions today? 

The really unique thing about being part of a business like The Crown Estate is the way it changes your perspective on time. 

The way things were done a hundred years ago is very different to the way they’ll be done a hundred years from now – having that understanding embedded in your everyday mindset changes how you think about your everyday decisions. The volatility that we are currently facing – whether it be pandemics, climate change, or AI advancements – means that we’re going to see more change in the next ten years than we have in the last 100. 

As a result, we’ve had to shift from being an organisation that’s waiting for the future to arrive, to being one that is propelling itself into the future. Sometimes there is more risk in standing still than there is in actively moving forward, even if that means a fundamental shift in culture and capability. 

Adam: What does it look like to actively move forward while also keeping in mind the impacts that decisions will have 100 years from now?

We all look at strategic risks in business – what is already out there and what will emerge. But I would argue that if you take what were regarded as the biggest strategic risks at the beginning of the year and then compare that to what the resultant risks actually were, two things become clear. 

The first is that those risks are not the same. And the second is that the real risks were much more profound. The systems change and disruption issues that we all face are huge. As an organisation, you can either try to predict specific risks and prepare for them, or you can begin to think about how you build a culture that is imbued with agility, resilience and stability in order to deal with whatever challenges are presented. 

Adam: Do you approach this role differently because of the nature of stewardship and longevity inherent to the organisation?

I definitely approach it differently. I’d spent my career making money for shareholders, but in this role my purpose is to create value for a nation. It is quite a profound feeling, especially when it comes to the idea of inheritance and the responsibility that comes with being entrusted with that. Regardless of how long you are going to have the opportunity and the honour of being in charge of an organisation like this, my overwhelming thought was: how will I define my time here? 

Stewardship is about taking responsibility for inheritance so that it prospers. There is a big difference between taking care of something so that it continues to survive and taking care of something so that it can become something even greater. The Crown Estate is an incredibly unique organisation, but there is nothing unique about owning something. There’s only uniqueness in what you do with what you own; what you create with what you own. That is how I think about stewardship. It’s about not only taking care of something, but adding value to what you’re taking care of.

In simpler terms, I have a five-year-old daughter. I often ask myself: what will she think about what I did to affect the world she lives in?

Adam: Tell me more about the concept of inheritance and what that means to your work. 

The idea of responsibility and inheritance is where I feel the most reminded that I’m standing on the shoulders of something much bigger than myself. It’s truly about the cause, not the individual: the cause of The Crown Estate is far more significant, and impacts many more people, than anything I have done on a personal level. 

And then comes the enormous realisation that what you do in setting the gradient of an organisation like this is potentially going to have an impact on the entire nation. That’s why we think of ourselves as a company for the country. 

Adam: What are the misconceptions about The Crown Estate? 

I think there is sometimes confusion about the nature of the profits we raise from the national portfolio. The reality is that one hundred percent of our net profits go to The Treasury. There is sometimes a belief that we have a commercial mandate for our own cause – but we are only interested in value holistically. It has to overlap with what is beneficial for the whole country. 

Another is that we’re an old-school, traditional operation. The diverse group of amazing people I work with, who create this culture of passion, purpose and prosperity, are all incredibly proud to come to work and create value for the country every day.

Adam: Prosperity is baked into The Crown Estate’s purpose. What does it mean to you?

To me, true prosperity means whole, holistic value. When I translate that to the business world and our strategy as a company, I think of it as two spheres: one is what capabilities the organisation has to offer. The other is what the world needs. 

Where those spheres overlap is where true prosperity can be created. 

Adam: At the moment, many young people are pointing out that it’s hard to rock the boat when you’re captain of the ship. What do you think the next generation of leaders are going to do differently? 

We’re really interested in the generational shift that’s happening. New leaders are coming through with a completely different set of criteria. While many of us grew up thinking about how to make a good living and afford a family, many young people today are instead thinking about what kind of world will even exist in one hundred years’ time. The Crown Estate exists with that second perspective built in. 

In my insecure moments, I sometimes wonder what other people think when, as a CEO, I talk about concepts like responsibility, custodianship, stewardship – those abstract ideas. But then I remember that it is vitally important that there are those of us who reflect the needs of a generation who will, one day, have to live in the world that we are creating right now. 

Adam: How can the Crown Estate inspire other businesses and organisations to act as stewards of prosperity for future generations? 

There is a common challenge for any business leader of balancing the needs of stakeholders, shareholders and society. At the same time you’re also trying to have a positive impact on the world. The question I find helpful to ask is: are we doing enough to push at the threshold? 

Your mantra has to become: how can I drive positive change? How do you hold yourself to account while keeping yourself at that threshold – pushing that as hard as you can without breaking it?

Adam: You mentioned the importance of abstraction. What role do abstract thought and uncertainty play in leadership? 

I think abstract thought is essential because the challenges that we’re dealing with are not discrete – they’re complex and interrelated. You’ve got to bring a level of systems-thinking. Anything and everything can change except your purpose. Your purpose is your north star, but your strategy might need to adjust. 

The idea of a two-speed approach is really important here – it holds the space open for abstract uncertainty without sacrificing the everyday decisions you have to make. It could be every six months or it could be every 12 months, but you stop and look around with a level of abstraction. You might be running fast enough, but are you still running in the right direction? 

If the answer is no, that’s your time to course-correct. 

Do you ever feel like you have to make trade-offs between long-term decisions and short-term decisions? 

It’s certainly not easy to find a balance between the two, but you have to make the best decisions you can. What you can’t do is run away from the decision-making, no matter how difficult it may be. 

We often get questions on decisions that were made in the past – 30, 40, 50 years ago – in the context of today’s values and social norms. It’s really interesting having that lens on past decisions as it reminds you that the decisions you make today will one day be judged by those who have to live with them in the future. 

We now ask ourselves: have we really thought through the long-term impacts of this? Are we implementing enough mitigation for any potential risks? What will this decision look like in 50 years? I think it’s incredibly important to learn how to look back at your decisions, not just forward.