4 Tips For Being a More Resilient Sustainability Professional

My professional journey in sustainability began at a youth leadership program in 1985.

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In parachute pants and a punk rock haircut, I drafted and presented a mock piece of legislation to protect streams and rivers from polluted runoff. Growing up in Florida, I was always around water: lakes, spring fed rivers, and my true love, the ocean. I saw firsthand how pollution was impacting these beautiful and important ecosystems – and it struck me as completely unnecessary.???

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Armed with a fervent passion and a technical mind, I studied environmental engineering in college. I have spent the past 30 years working on solutions to complex sustainability problems. My work has been guided by the desire to make what is good for the environment, good for business.?

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But it hasn’t been easy. Honestly? It’s often been exhausting.

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I have routinely encountered challenges and setbacks, and I know I’m not alone. Setbacks take their toll, often leaving you feeling frustrated and discouraged.?

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Despite the challenges, what we do matters. And what we do is needed. The demand for sustainability-focused professionals is soaring due to increasing environmental public policy, market demand for decarbonization and climate risks.

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So—on this World Water Day 2024— instead of writing about the role of water in climate resilience or another corporate water stewardship topic, I want to focus on you: the sustainability professional doing the hard work and trying to make an impact. The ones wondering, “How do I keep going? How do I overcome the challenges, the exhaustion, the hurdles?”

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Here are a few lessons (inspired and gleaned from one of my favorite authors on modern day stoic philosophy, Ryan Holiday ) that have helped me stay focused, resilient and effective while working to have impact from the center of the storm.

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Practice Objectivity.? Sustainability professionals can sometimes be guided by assumptions about barriers rather than facts—especially when we encounter resistance to sustainability-focused changes within an organization.

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To combat the frustration, practice objectivity by asking good questions. Actively listen. By understanding an individual’s role within an organization (how they do it, their definition of success, what they are being held accountable for), you can better understand what concerns them about sustainability. By listening, you can provide a path forward that addresses their concerns and fits into their strategy.

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Practice Persistence. Focus on setting realistic expectations. Yes, challenges will exist. Along with the business concerns regarding sustainability, other barriers include apathy, resistance to change, clever counter arguments, and colleagues that have way too much on their plate. Sustainability is another priority on the plate to factor into the equation. This is why it is critical to employ a persistent blend of patience and empathy for our colleagues.?

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It can take a while, but if you practice objectivity, and persistently and patiently engage your colleagues, practical solutions emerge that work for all stakeholders.?

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When I was seeking to align senior leaders across our company regarding sustainability, we started with the business case and discussed barriers to success and critical success factors. We were then able to discuss how to overcome barriers in ways that were meaningful to our company, their part of the organization, and our sustainability goals. These solutions were key inputs into the design of our final sustainability strategy. Each leader could see their contributions to the strategy, and they helped define how sustainability should be implemented within their area of the organization. This moved all of us to a higher level of alignment and understanding.

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Stay Healthy. How we take care of our minds and bodies impacts our resilience and effectiveness as sustainability professionals. There are many tactics to preserve mental toughness. For me, writing is an important part of my practice because it forces me to be exact and to refine my understanding. Having peers to discuss and debate ideas is also important—be intentional about building a strong network of sustainability peers. This combination of reading, writing, and conferring with peers keeps me prepared and ready, which translates into mental toughness for me.?

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It's also critical to stay physically healthy—and that means moving the body in a way that best serves you. For me, it’s martial arts, high intensity workouts and slow mind-body tai chi movements. There are plenty of options to stay in good physical shape. Make sure you do something.

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Keep moving forward. In 2015, I was the Global Water Resource Sustainability manager at The Coca-Cola Company leading the Water Replenish program. That year, our global team achieved a first for a Fortune 500 company: 100% replenishment of the water used in all beverages worldwide. For every liter of product sold every day, at least one liter was being given back to communities and the environment through community water partnerships, with some of the projects helping to protect streams and rivers from polluted runoff.

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To achieve this success, our team was intentional about understanding the concerns of our internal stakeholders. We worked hard to adapt the strategy to ensure it made sense for each business unit. We also had to overcome methodological barriers by the innovative application of long-standing engineering and social science methods.? We all traveled extensively.? I personally traveled to over 50 countries and met with countless business leaders, public officials, and external partners.

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This is where mental toughness and physical fitness helped. It was all worth it.?

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Today, many companies have water replenishment or restoration programs modeled on Coca-Cola’s program. But great accomplishments have a time limit—they can be celebrated for a moment and then promptly sacrificed upon the alter of the future.

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Because at the end of the day, you must keep moving. There is too much to do.

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Oh, and remember that piece of mock legislation to protect streams and rivers from polluted runoff from my earlier years? It did not pass. You could mark it as my first professional failure; the first of many. But failure also marks the effort of trying. And together, we can continue trying to move the sustainability needle.

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You and I are connected in this great sustainability campaign: the challenges and opportunities are endless. If we practice objectivity, remain persistent and take care of ourselves, we can have greater impact within our organizations leading to better results for society, the environment and our global economy.

?#WorldWaterDay, #WaterStewardship, #Sustainability, #Replenish

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