Millions of people in China, India, Latin America, and Southeast Asia are entering the middle class for the first time, increasing their demand for energy, housing, and transportation. At the same time, because of economic turbulence, rapid technological change, and the ever-present dynamics of gluts and shortages in most resource industries, there is no guarantee that the price of raw materials will continue to rise. Adding to this uncertainty are concerns about the impact this growing demand will have on the environment.

These challenges suggest that we need a new way to think about natural resources -- a shift in mind-set from simply managing resources to practicing resource leadership.

Resource producers have always been constrained by their view that the primary goods they sell are commodities with which they compete on the basis of price alone; their customers determine how they should be used. That approach, however, has led producers to the status quo: a largely reactive position with a short time horizon, and little opportunity to differentiate themselves from competitors.

Resource leadership, in contrast, entails thinking strategically about natural resources from the moment they are pulled from the earth through to their end use. This form of leadership is rare in all too many industries. It involves the ability to see the complex interdependencies of the natural resources system; to engage key stakeholders upstream, downstream, and across sectors; and to promote innovation with economic and ecological benefits within the resource system. Resource leadership thus represents a shift from short-term thinking to stewarding resources for the long term.

Imagine a company that embraced this new model. As a resource producer at the beginning of the value chain, it would contribute solutions and expertise -- culled from working directly with the materials at the earliest stages -- in collaborating with its customers to find cost savings, reduce waste, and improve service.

The expertise developed this way would also lessen the impact on the environment, by helping all users, starting at the source, operate more effectively, with less waste.

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