The Opportunity of a Lifetime

Like a kid in a candy store.

That is exactly how I feel having spent countless hours throughout my career talking to business leaders about one of the topics I am most passionate about – sustainable leadership. They have shared their successes, challenges and scars from their journeys with me, and now I get to give you a front row seat, so you can hear for yourself how some of the world’s best leaders have moved the ball forward.

In September, John Wiley & Sons will release my book: Sustainable Leadership: Lessons of Vision, Courage, and Grit from the CEOs Who Dared to Build a Better World. This book is filled with stories from amazing leaders who I have met along the way and how they have made their mark.

Duke Energy CEO Lynn Good shares how a company in one of the most challenging industries balances reliable power supply with doing right by the environment.

Adidas CEO Kasper Rorsted sidestepped reservations from his team, publicly declaring that the company would make 9 out of 10 products out of reusable materials to end plastic waste by 2025.

S?ren Skou, chief executive of the Danish shipping company Maersk took a big gamble, spending billions on a fleet of new ships, not even knowing whether there would be a supply of clean fuel to power them.

These leaders are bold and audacious and have incredible stories. There are hundreds more like them who have deployed winning, profitable and successful sustainability strategies; but that is not enough – there should be thousands.

Eyes Wide Open

Companies and leaders who have fallen behind the urgency of the challenges we are entrenched in will soon be able to see, I hope, that profits and shareholder value are not sacrificed in an intelligent sustainability strategy, and that it is not just the popular thing to do, it is the only thing to do.

And this is why I set out to write this book.

What I have found is that while there is broad awareness of sustainability, it is not translating into sufficient action, nor is it being meaningfully integrated in organizations. Instead of being part of a core strategy, sustainability is too often being relegated to a single initiative or department, or being viewed as a function of risk management. It is simply not core to the business, which it must be.

Transition toward sustainable, ethical, meaningful business operations is more than the pledges, plans, programs and press releases. It is about leadership.

The costs of coping with environmental calamities will be massive for public institutions and business, no question. The enormity of the problem, though, should not dissuade us from acting.

Front and Center

Now, more than ever, with so many macro-economic, political and societal issues on the desks and minds of leaders–the pandemic, supply chains interrupted by disasters, political unrest and war in Eastern Europe–sustainability is at serious risk of falling down or falling off CEOs’ and public policy leaders’ radars entirely as their lists grow longer with disruptive challenges to address. Yet prioritizing it and acting on it is exactly what is going to pull executives and companies out of this period of massive adversity.

As Ian Dunlop, former senior executive for Royal Dutch Shell said, “We have left too late to solve this dilemma with a graduated response. Emergency action, akin to putting the economy on a war footing, remains essential.”

Weaving it Through

Actions taken by corporations ripple outward, affecting people, planet, and prosperity across borders and far beyond what any individual or even government can do. It is a collective burden. It is a collective challenge. And it must be a collective solution.

That is the essence of my book, which I hope will fuel the conversation and play a part in unleashing the stampede we need to charge at this to make a profound impact on our planet and society.