What does Sustainability Leadership look like?

In the past few months, I had the opportunity to learn from many leaders across different industries. During these encounters, sustainability was one of the most discussed topics.?

Everyone shares a different idea of how to help mitigate the current climate crisis. These ideas range from investing in sustainable food and looking at plant-based and cell-based food to creating lucrative financial opportunities for unbanked SMEs in the emerging market. Yet others try to advocate for corporations to build sustainable frameworks within organizations.?

What sets them apart from other leaders? And what does it take to incorporate sustainability leadership into our regular business domain? What would be the risk if we do not embrace sustainability today? ?

The message from COP27 is clear; climate crisis actions are slow, and countries that had committed to a plan in 2015 have not successfully reduced carbon emissions to less than 2 degrees. Most businesses face challenges balancing resources, driving growth vs. sustainability investment, and comparing short-term vs. long-term gain, while some have trouble initiating their actions. These facts often make me think, what are the possible risks if the business world fails to adapt itself? What can instigate these changes? And lastly, what does sustainability leadership look like??

The Importance of Sustainability Leadership

Leaders often set the vision for an organization. They can inspire people, take collective actions, and deal effectively with challenges. In other words - leaders set the company culture. Adding sustainability to the mix would mean any leader who can inspire and support actions toward a better world. Sustainable leaders are geared towards bringing profound change, whether in political/economic systems, business models and practices, or in broad social contracts with stakeholders and society.

Sustainability has only recently been able to infiltrate the business world and the government as an agenda. In my experience, a transformative leader can identify and help others realize the embedded benefits of this mission. Our immediate priority is to work together to rebuild our societies and economies. Creating a sustainable world is a critical challenge but also a real opportunity. Making real change is mountainous job that requires grit, resilience, and persistence. Building a sustainable business model would include a lot of risks and barriers. So, ensuring the success of these programs would require a transformational leader who ensures that social and environmental impact becomes a priority for the organization. We need such leaders to start a conversation within the company culture, resulting in a mind shift.?

Prioritizing Sustainable Leadership for Long-Term View

The climate change effects on the business world are apparent. Approximately 68 out of 77 industries are “significantly affected in some way by climate risk,” according to the Value Reporting Foundation (previously Sustainability Accounting Standards Board). In this context, I don’t think businesses can ignore the larger systemic issues facing society. For far too long, we have imagined the business world to be existing in a bubble away from societal problems and issues. Sustainability leadership, through its dedicated focus, can perhaps re-embed the two realities together. Usually, through their alternative way of thinking, leaders with sustainability can look beyond immediate, short-term gains to see the role their organization plays in the long run. In turn, solving issues around high volatility and building resilient business models.?

The benefits of sustainability leadership are multifold. They can drive financial performance and improve profitability across the value chain (read this HBR case study) I tried to understand what novelty they bring to the table. I realized the answer was simple–to factor in societal value. By investing in solutions for environmental and social issues beyond CSR activities, they increase the need for their product and the capacity for people to buy the same. Moreover, we see customers are becoming increasingly aware and conscious of sustainable practices and want to spend more money with sustainably responsible companies.?

What Can Leaders Do Today??

I have underlined who qualifies as a sustainable leader and who is important in being current, agile, and relevant. Now let us turn to how exactly they bring about these changes. And what faculties they use to get to these goals. According to Cambridge's Sustainability Leadership model, traits such as being open-minded, self-aware, visionary, and systemic thinking informs a sustainable leader’s strategy. Their style of functioning is altruistic, radical, inclusive, and creative to disrupt the status quo. Lastly, leaders have a wide knowledge base of global challenges and dilemmas, interdisciplinary connections, changing dynamics, and integrating diverse stakeholders’ views.

The idea is to use these skills to interact with a specific set of mechanisms. The mechanisms or the levers of change can be categorized into three types: intra-organizational, policy-level changes, and cross-cultural domains. Intra-organizational changes include focusing on employment policies, organizational culture, and operational practices. One Gallup poll indicates that about seven out of 10 workers consider a company’s environmental and sustainability efforts when determining employment. This is especially true among the next generation, who are even more passionate about ESG issues (US based). Secondly, working with the wider systems, such as lobbying for environmental policies and international agreements. Lastly, leaders can work collaboratively towards cross-cutting domains. These include working on technological advancement and formulations for altering consumer behavior.?

Today’s status quo demands deciphering the importance of sustainability leadership in today’s time, where economic challenges continue to deepen and where leaders in senior positions need to step up and think collectively for a sustainable future. Inculcating the required skills, styles, and knowledge base into your leadership style can help you transform your leadership style and create a mind shift for your organizational culture. I am eager to hear about your viewpoint on sustainable leadership and how your organization views this issue.

Resources

1. https://www.researchgate.net/figure/Cambridge-Sustainability-Leadership-Model_fig1_228320235
2. https://www.forbes.com/sites/forbeshumanresourcescouncil/2022/09/07/the-importance-of-sustainable-leadership/
3. https://www.gartner.com/en/articles/are-you-thinking-too-small-about-sustainable-technology
4. https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/5417cd9148c248c0985a5b6d028b0277