Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
Box 11.3
The change leadership sustainability demands
Many [business executives] make the mistake of treating sustainability like any other
large corporate initiative; it's actually different in several crucial ways. Or they assume
that it will require a steady, constant effort over years. In fact, it entails three distinct
phases, each requiring different leadership skills.
Phase 1: Making the case for change
When an organization is largely unprepared to address sustainability, the key challenge
is to make a clear and compelling case for change. Because the organization is at
best reactive to the challenges of sustainability (and usually unaware of the oppor-
tunities), the sustainability leader must be adept at collaborating and influencing
others in the course of the transition from unconscious to conscious reactivity. At
the end of Phase 1, sustainability emerges as a powerful mandate that is pervasive
throughout the organization.
Phase 2: Translating vision into action
When companies emerge from Phase 1, commercial orientation becomes the key
competence in aligning sustainability initiatives and value creation, a point that
cannot be emphasized strongly enough. Now the task is to translate high-level
commitments into a comprehensive change program with clearly defined initiatives
and hard commercial targets. To make this happen, sustainability leaders in Phase
2 must excel at delivering results, and they must have a strong commercial awareness.
At the end of this phase, the organization is consciously proactive on sustainability
across its footprint and tracks economic, environmental and social metrics over the
business planning cycle.
Phase 3: Expanding boundaries
The need for commercial orientation continues unabated but is now matched by
a strong strategic orientation. As the organization continuously raises the bar and
leverages sustainability to create competitive advantage, it increasingly views
sustainability as a strategic opportunity and gauges its progress with metrics that
reach beyond the short and medium term. The sustainability leader must be adept
at anticipating and evaluating long-term sustainability trends, spotting new oppor-
tunities and developing strategies to reposition the organization to benefit from them.
The goal is to embed sustainability in the organization's DNA such that it is a core
value and the organization is unconsciously proactive about it.
Source: extracted from: Lueneburger and Goleman (2010).
