Great leaders impact on those they associate with, possessing a presence that combines positive leadership skills, traits, and behaviours that their networks and colleagues are willing to buy into and support. This is their leadership brand. Attributes which can be carefully nurtured and developed by ESG, Sustainability and C-suite leaders to advance their transformative agendas for sustainability.
Organisations, National Governments, and Multi-sectoral Partnerships are now expected to take the lead on Sustainable Agendas. Sustainability leaders within such bodies have an increasing expectation being placed on them that not only can they demonstrate ‘leadership’ in this area but importantly they can also deliver action and change in support of sustainable development.
A personal sustainability leadership brand is an asset now when enhancing your personal leadership presence and influence internally and externally. It helps build networks for change, the trust and respect that generates influence, and the willingness in others to change their own behaviours and ways of working. All positive characteristics if your brand remains embedded in core values that reflect authenticity, ethical practices, and transparency (truth). The possession of which when combined with business acumen makes for an attractive and enviable combination of the modern future-fit professional, and a brand that organisations, partnerships, teams, and individuals can buy into. One of the greatest advantages that having your own clear and visible sustainability leadership brand, is that it allows you to signal in advance the issues being considered, the need for change and the transformational objectives that need to be followed. This early positioning and the willingness of others to follow make the entire process of transformations in a business or organisational culture significantly easier to deliver.
Unilever, Patagonia, Natura &Co, IKEA, and Microsoft are currently the organisations most recognised for their Sustainability Leadership – and are successful in not only retaining their brand dominance in this area but also gaining greater recognition than other competitors.
In my work, I have met several sustainability leaders at all levels of their careers, and in particular those whose internal leadership mindset is taking them towards greater involvement and understanding of sustainability issues in business.
Once characteristic that I have seen repeatedly is the way they perceived and approach the often-intangible risks that now face businesses. Firstly, they are curious about why things are the way they are in society or business culture and have a tough time accepting this when they can envision other alternative pathways to the way things could be. As well-read individuals with an expanded range of professional social, environmental and business interests I suspect that they are exposed to, and in in touch with, a greater perception of their purpose in life. These attitudes towards promoting future action often bring them into debate, and at times conflict, with other business colleagues for whom managing the status quo to prevent risk, a fear of change and perceived threats to positional power dominate their thinking.
One of the characteristics I most enjoy in play is their enjoyment and delight when brainstorming with other talented people. I have seen many sustainability leaders brainstorm for ideas they can use for their own purposes as copycat managers. In these leaders however, they value cooperation and collaboration with other talented people for the mutual sharing of ideas, the development of concepts and the exposure of emerging cultural and environmental risk themes. Rather than copying the efforts of others, they look to lead by focusing on the means of developing products, services, and ideas that align with their vision of organizational purpose and through which they can emphasize corporate value creation over just keeping the market position. This value creator role rather than observer is a fundamentally rare and valuable commodity within their brand.
Fear negatively governs the actions and behaviours in many organisations and often reflects the mindsets present in many executive groups. Many leaders are great on the next step ‘Great Idea’ stage but rapidly give up accountability for its change management Programme, continued resourcing and embedding into the corporate culture when their initiative has been ‘accepted’. It is pointless to be innovative in recognizing sustainability issues and reactions if you are ineffective in executing and keeping responsibility for that idea. A signed policy or PR notes no longer cut it as action in the eyes of many ESG and NGO observers! When reviewing their CVs, portfolios and in general conversation, I am often impressed by the way in which they have run with an idea, steered it through the Boardroom minefield and delivered it through their internal and external networks. Often these strategies have comprehensively affected the future value creation basis of their organisations in terms of supply chain management, procurement or energy resilience. Often entering the uncharted business territory, they have displayed little fear in scaling up concepts into working practices.
When speaking with such individuals I enjoy the way they take up ideas, sift them for value, ask more questions or discard them. They have what I have always looked for when recruiting new team members – that ‘spark’ which makes them stand out from the other candidates. They have busy minds and are willing to act as the Devil’s Advocate when considering new possibilities, and to bring an individual perspective through their own worldview to new challenges, the manipulation of concepts and in the re-evaluation of established beliefs. Such minds attract other similar minds, often those often regarded as dangerous or rogue in organisations for not buying into established orthodoxy, and paradoxically those with high innovation potentials but bored or disengaged from the organisation. As a leader surrounding yourself with Yes Men rather than those who inspire and who can influence you reduces your ability you have for innovation, progression and to push the boundaries of what is possible.
Many sustainability leaders emerge after roles for which prior scientific or social science educational pathways have prepared them others have the role added into their leadership portfolio or inherit it as an expansion of a PR or corporate relationships role. Regardless of the merits of each route once committed to a sustainability leadership role, it is important to review and develop your sustainability leadership and strengthen your words, purpose, and actions. There are several starting steps that new sustainability executives and leaders can take to promote themselves and help them outline their values, priorities, and value creation beliefs:
In addition to the above, sustainability leaders building their leadership brand must personally role model the behaviour and actions they expect from others if they are to motivate and encourage others to follow their lead towards positive ESG goal achievement throughout the organisation.
A leadership brand cannot be created overnight, its fact many fail to achieve this, and a sustainability leadership brand is even harder to achieve, respect and credibility as a leader within sustainability or ESG management can only be earned the hard way, through perseverance and commitment to seeking better future-fit business models that deliver for the organisation, its stakeholders and people and their environments. If a sustainability leader identifies soft goals or fails to achieve a minimal level of attainment in the eyes of colleagues their brand is devalues, and few will be willing to follow them on trust alone.
The bottom line: Sustainability leaders are truly transformative leaders and can build for themselves a successful career and leadership brand within organisations, but they must continually deliver progress in sustainability whilst aiding thier organisation compete with the rest of the world.
