The Making of a Sustainable Business Leader
A sustainable business leader plays a pivotal role in an organization's sustainability journey. As with many aspects of business and life, the path to sustainability begins at the top.
So, what is a sustainable leader? I define a sustainable leader as the following:
A sustainable business leader takes proactive steps to prioritize environmental, social, and economic strategies in their business operations. Their goal is to create long-term value for their company, its employees, the communities they serve, and the planet.
With that clarified, here are some of the key characteristics of a sustainability-focused business leader:
They are Visionaries.
A visionary is a business leader who always looks to the future, seeking products, services, and strategies to help their business grow. They envision integrating sustainability into their business operations to increase efficiency, cut costs, and promote this growth.
They Challenge the Past
Sustainable business leaders are willing to challenge traditional ways of doing things. In some cases, they may be asked to make bold decisions and investments to ensure their company balances profitability with sustainability. "Progress and growth are impossible if you always do things the way you've always done things." Wayne Dyer, self-help author, and motivational speaker
Have a Long-Term Orientation
Sustainable business leaders view sustainability as a journey, a long-term process with key milestones along the way. Realizing there are no endpoints, they continually establish higher sustainability goals to complement business objectives.
Continuity of Commitment
Because of their long-term orientation, they stay committed to sustainability even when faced with unexpected challenges, doubts, and questions from investors, customers, and employees.
Communication and Engagement
A sustainable business may start with the top business leader in an organization, but once it begins, it requires everyone on board. This requires that they actively communicate and engage with employees, investors, customers, and vendors to foster what I refer to as a culture of sustainability.
Motivation
While communication and engagement are essential, these characteristics do not necessarily motivate others to join a culture of sustainability. To inspire their team, sustainable business leaders:
Lead by example.
Set clear goals.
Acknowledge successes.
Reward those who helped achieve those successes.
Foster a positive work environment.
And, very importantly, give their team space to make their own decisions, experiment, take responsibility for their efforts, and trust they will be successful.
Ethics and Transparency
Sustainable business leaders are always ethical and transparent. Without these characteristics as their foundation, none of what we discuss here will be accomplished.
Adaptability
The University of Oxford states that concerns about our world's fast pace of change began in 1900. But it wasn't until 1965 that we realized how fast the world would be changing in the coming years. In 1965, engineer Gordon Moore revealed that the number of transistors in integrated circuits doubled every two years.
Today, the amount of data in the world doubles every two years.
Despite the overwhelming pace of change, sustainability-focused leaders remain adaptable. They embody the words of John F. Kennedy, spoken more than 60 years ago:
"Change is the law of life, and those who look only to the past and present are certain to miss the future."
Today's sustainable leaders will not miss the future - they are making the future.
-Steve
As always, I welcome your thoughts below. That’s how we grow together.
Steve Ashkin is CEO and founder of The Ashkin Group; an internationally recognized consulting firm working to green the professional cleaning industry and help organizations implement effective and cost-effective sustainability programs.
To contact Steve, click here.