Leading a Sustainability Culture transforming within your organisation needs strategy, commitment and above all the clear alignment of sustainability and business priorities.
An organisation’s ‘culture’ is the sum of its employees’ beliefs, behaviours, and the strength of alignment they have with each other, its leadership teams, and the way the organisation conducts its business. It reflects the ‘organic’ within the term organisation’. It can be a company’s greatest strength or the harbinger of its demise.
For many of us who have worked across many sectors and markets, it is different for every company, it is either strong or weak, motivating, or toxic, innovative or risk-averse. It is an inherent part of a business’s worldview, the question for many new sustainability leaders is ‘what is it?’ before moving on to the next critical question ‘Is it a culture within which a future sustainability leadership culture can align and flourish?’
If it is not, what is holding it back, which parts are salvageable and what can I work with to transform the existing culture towards addressing my long and short-term sustainability objectives
What is Sustainability Culture Transformation?
Culture transformation is a commonly used term to describe the shift that leadership can initiate throughout a specific team or in more spectacular examples an entire organisation. Sustainability culture transformation refers to a similar scenario in which the leadership focus is towards meeting the social and environmental challenges that can limit future business growth. Within an organisation the desired change can be focussed on:
Despite the increased popularity of the use of the term “sustainability” in business, there is still a great gulf between what businesses say, invest in and promote within themselves and the possibility that industry will play more extensive role in closing the gap between current societal demands and global resources. Business environmental sustainability and its alignment within many corporate cultures still has a long way to go in setting out new approaches to minimise environmental degradation, climate change, biodiversity and habitat loss, the promotion of over-consumption, the economic desire for unrestricted growth against a backdrop of limited resources.
Sustainability corporate culture transformation seeks to change leadership mindsets and an organisation’s skills as well as their hearts and minds towards a more sustainable business model. Organizations are notorious in resist change unless they fully understand, embrace, and recognise the drivers for it. In fact, it is estimated that only about 25% of change initiatives enacted in business are successful, the data is completely lacking for corporate sustainability change programmes! It takes transformational and changes leadership skills to bring about the transformation desired, and sustainability leaders must act as positive advocates for change that reset established organisational practices, management processes, and previously ‘safe’ organisational decisions.
So, what does success look like?
Success is reflected by the behaviours and attitudes within the organisation, the manner and extent to which they now respond to sustainability themes is different and positive in terms of tangible business outcomes and is underpinned by a supportive leadership culture of accepted sustainability accountability and responsibilities.
The resulting changes are reflected in improved sustainability metrics, the alignment of sustainability priorities within core planning cycles, and a greater acceptance of sustainability as a driver of business growth. Operating within an upward cycle of continuous improvement, each cycle of sustainability corporate culture transformation is achieved through the achievement of pre-set results and metrics.
To quote Phil Geldart, the author of ’Purpose, Passion, Path’ –
‘A transformation is, therefore, a process whereby, over time, people behave differently and the organization benefits in some fashion as a result.”
Sustainability management as a future fit focused and long-term leadership skill sets a positive and desired competitive outcome for a business through which it addresses its negative existing processes, attitudes and behaviours and seeks to build in an organisational radar that identifies and adapts to social and environmental changes as they influence customers, stakeholders, and regulators.
Your first challenge is to understand when a sustainability-focused transformation of the organisation’s culture is required, what is the best strategic response and ensure you have the necessary toolbox of leadership skills to deliver it.