In an age of increasing comfort and convenience, many leaders overlook sustainability, which encompasses environmental challenges, societal inequities, and economic uncertainties. To understand sustainable leadership, we must first explore its importance and the broader context in which it operates.
Status Quo
Environmental
In 2012, the UN established the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to address global environmental, social, and economic challenges (United Nations Development Programme, 2023). From the environmental perspective, climate change is at its worst due to the alarming amount of greenhouse gases being emitted, and businesses that have yet to embrace the significance of sustainability continue to prioritise profits at the expense of our environment. Neglecting sustainability may deplete finite resources and lead to ecosystem and biodiversity loss.
Social
Economic
Moving Forward
In today's world, despite the increasing emphasis on sustainability, companies often engage in greenwashing, as exemplified by the Dieselgate Scandal at Volkswagen under the leadership of Martin Winterkorn (Glazer, 2016). His traditional authoritarian leadership style is increasingly stigmatised in the 21st century, which calls for leaders who promote diversity, value dialogue and debate, and embrace systemic thinking (Glazer, 2016). According to Ramakrishnan (2023), sustainable leadership can be defined as a management approach that prioritises environmental, social and economic concerns, hence it is highly beneficial to address the challenges above. It fosters collaboration and adaptability while breaking down silos between leaders and their teams for transformative change (Ramakrishnan, 2023).
Sustainable leaders are often characterised as leaders oriented towards a more ecocentric, systemic and long-term way of thinking (Taylor, 2020). They are also not afraid to challenge the status quo as demonstrated by Unilever’s former CEO, Paul Polman. When Paul first reached the position, he challenged the status quo of corporate reporting as he believed that quarterly reports are an encouragement of short-term thinking (James, 2023). After removal of quarterly reports, Paul believed better decisions were being made, allowing Unilever to move to a new level of confidence with the investor base. In contrast, the vision statement of GM in 2014 was “our stock-holders will receive a sustained superior return on their investment.” Consequently, the focus on quarterly earnings has ultimately caused them to recall approximately 30 million cars worldwide due to the faulty ignition switches (McLeod, 2015).
A common challenge faced by sustainable leaders is the struggle to integrate sustainability into the corporate objective. When sustainability is left as an isolated objective, employees can continue to strive for short-term gains at the expense of long-term sustainability (Topa, 2022). Therefore, sustainable leaders should lead by example and encourage participation by engaging with all stakeholders (employees, customers, shareholders, suppliers and other involved parties). By engaging with stakeholders, trust can be fostered to heighten the commitment to a common vision where both corporate and sustainable objectives are achieved. A sustainable leader alone cannot help an organisation achieve sustainability, but rather followers also have to practise sustainable and self-leadership to achieve this goal. Hence, sustainable leaders should also be able to influence people without using authority (Topa, 2022). Sustainable leaders must learn to develop personal power because they are often put in positions where they have no positional power. Personal power is derived from reputation, connections and knowledge (Topa, 2022).
Sustainable leaders are often collaborators because of their cross boundary networks. Meaning, a sustainable leader not only collaborates with its organisation but beyond it. As sustainability challenges are typically complex in nature, sustainable leaders are expected to be able to work beyond their professional discipline with other industry sectors, levels of government, organisational units, culture, geography, political jurisdictions and demographics (Taylor, 2022). This is evident in the story of Adrian Lasimbang. As Adrian journeyed through the rural areas in Sabah and Sarawak to use micro-hydro systems to bring electricity to them, he had to work with the Government, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and villagers to complete this mammoth task that he had set out to do (Koay, 2011). According to Adrian, he also believed that a major reason for the success in community based projects in comparison to Government projects was that the community based projects gave training and empowered its people to remain self-functional and sustainable.
As promoting sustainability is rarely an easy task, it frequently entails a lot of resistance, stakeholder disagreement, setbacks, and requires a commitment of time (Topa, 2022). According to Blanchard (2015), a key principle of leadership development is to prioritise self-leadership. Meaning, a leader must be self-aware, to remember our beliefs, values and strengths. Despite the resistance, a leader must remain disciplined and committed to make the decisions in the best interest of the cause.
Take for example, a well-known advocate for sustainability was Rachel Carson. Most known for her 1962 book Silent Spring, which advocated the effects of organochlorine pesticides on the ecosystem. Her work influenced decision-makers to enhance pertinent environmental rules. However, what is not commonly known about Rachel’s life is that during the five years she was writing Silent Spring, she battled breast cancer, took care of and financially supported her ailing mother, and adopted her 5-year-old grandnephew after his mother passed away (Koehn, 2012). Her ability to exercise self-leadership was demonstrated by her ability to manage these personal challenges while still finding the drive, time, and resources to finish this book.
Self-Reflection
Growing up in a recycling-oriented household, I grasped the importance of sustainability early on. As an aspiring sustainable leader, improving my self-leadership is a priority. As an Obliger, I often meet external expectations at the expense of internal ones. For instance, addressing the issue of students idling cars in Sunway University's car park and emitting greenhouse gases has been on my agenda. Despite my desire to advocate for a rule against idling, my busy schedule has hindered my commitment. As I reflect on the stories brought forth in this article, especially the narrative of Rachel Carson, I realise that I can and must do better.
References
Ken Blanchard [LeadersIn]. (2015, October 22). Ken Blanchard on mastering self leadership [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KOSByWlZOek
Daft, R. L. (2023). The leadership experience (8th ed., p. 244). Cengage Learning Asia Pte Ltd.
Glazer, R. (2016, January 8). The biggest lesson from Volkswagen: Culture dictates behavior. Entrepreneur. https://www.entrepreneur.com/leadership/the-biggest-lesson-from-volkswagen-culture-dictates/254178#:~:text=CEO%20Martin%20Winterkorn%20was%20a
James, G. (2023, November 13). Why Unilever stopped issuing quarterly reports. Inc.com. https://www.inc.com/geoffrey-james/why-unilever-stopped-issuing-quarterly-reports.html
Koay, A. (2011, August 13). Power to the people. https://rural-energy-borneo.blogspot.com/2011/08/power-to-people.html
McLeod, L. E. (2015, September 25). Why Volkswagen’s purpose created problems. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/lisaearlemcleod/2015/09/25/why-volkswagens-purpose-created-problems/?sh=72078be5598c
Pachamama Alliance. (2022). Social inequality. Pachamama Alliance. https://pachamama.org/social-justice/social-inequality#:~:text=Social%20inequality%20is%20the%20condition
Ramakrishnan, M. (2023, January 20). What is sustainable leadership? 5 principles and characteristics. Emeritus Online Courses. https://emeritus.org/blog/leadership-sustainable-leadership/
Taylor, A. (2020, February 14). Six principles of sustainability leadership. LinkedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/six-principles-sustainability-leadership-andre-taylor/
Topa, M. (2022, May 25). 5 organizational challenges you might face as a sustainability manager, and how to tackle them. SustainLab. https://sustainlab.co/blog/5-organizational-challenges-you-might-face-as-a-sustainability-manager-and-how-to-tackle-them
United Nations. (2020). World Social Report : Inequality in a rapidly changing world. United Nations Publication.
United Nations Development Programme. (2023). Sustainable Development Goals - Background on the goals. UNDP. https://www.undp.org/sdg-accelerator/background-goals#:~:text=The%20Sustainable%20Development%20Goals%20
Disclaimer: This blog is created to fulfill the academic coursework requirements of the subject MGT3073 Leadership conducted at Sunway University, Malaysia, and is for educational purposes only. It is not meant for commercial or consulting purposes, and is not for sharing and distribution.
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