One of the most significant challenges in sustainability today is that many professionals, stakeholders, CEOs, and employees don't truly understand the "why" behind sustainability. This lack of understanding often leads to confusion, with sustainability being mistaken for environmental initiatives or social events alone. But sustainability is much more than that—it's about balancing the 3Ps: People, Planet, and Profit. It's about integrating sustainability into the mindset, the business strategy, and every employee in every department.
Understanding the "why" behind a company’s sustainability actions is crucial because sustainability isn’t just the responsibility of one department or a single leader—it must be embedded into every aspect of the business. This integration often requires existing roles to take on new sustainability-related responsibilities. However, if the "why" behind these responsibilities isn’t clearly communicated, employees can quickly become overwhelmed and exhausted.
But is understanding the "why" enough? Not entirely. While knowing the "why" can motivate individuals and emphasize the significance of their new roles, it alone isn’t sufficient. Employees also need adequate support to navigate these changes. Moreover, leveraging the existing knowledge and expertise within each department (whether in finance, sourcing, or operations) is essential to effectively integrate sustainability across the organization.
It’s a mixture of educating existing employees on sustainability tasks, fostering an environment where you can maximize the expertise of current staff, and bringing in new talent with a passion for sustainability. By balancing these elements, organizations can truly embed sustainability into their core operations and achieve meaningful progress.
Explaining the "why" does three critical things:
Motivation: It encourages individuals to see sustainability as a rewarding path, offering purpose and fulfillment in their roles.
Perspective: It highlights the vast opportunities and future possibilities within the sustainability sphere.
Business Continuity: It underscores how crucial sustainability is to business continuity, making it clear that it’s part of everyone’s job to ensure the company operates in the right way.
So, why is this understanding so crucial?
Critical Times: We’re facing unprecedented challenges—from climate change to biodiversity loss and deforestation, not to mention social injustices. These issues are interlinked and require a comprehensive approach to sustainability.
Regulatory Landscape: The regulatory environment is rapidly evolving, and businesses that don’t keep up risk facing fines, reputational damage, and lost opportunities.
Investment Attraction: ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance) performance is now a key indicator for investors. Platforms like eToro highlight how mainstream this has become—attracting investment means performing well in sustainability.
Competitiveness: Companies excelling in sustainability are setting the standard, and to stay competitive, others must step up. Customers are increasingly demanding sustainable practices, and businesses must meet these expectations.
Operational Optimization: Where sustainability meets profitability. (More on this in next week’s newsletter!)
Risk Management: Effective sustainability practices help mitigate a wide range of risks, from supply chain disruptions to regulatory penalties.
Do you agree that the most crucial challenge we face is ensuring everyone understands how deeply sustainability must be embedded into business operations? Is this truly the first step toward integrating sustainability into strategy and every department?
But the real question is, how do we achieve this? How do we raise awareness and ensure that sustainability professionals can deliver value by addressing these "whys"?
This is exactly what my upcoming course, "Sustainability Career Launchpad - Expanded Version," will cover. Each "why" comes with various techniques, stakeholders, and strategies that sustainability professionals must master to make a real impact. Stay tuned for more details!
Take Action:
Sustainability professionals, now is the time to assess your current practices. Educate and engage key stakeholders on the “Why” behind these efforts. This will inspire, inform, and increase employee involvement in your company’s sustainability initiatives.
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1 Must-See Post: Leading the LinkedIn Feed
2 Great Insights - A Book I am Reading
I am currently reading The Personal MBA by Josh Kaufman. I've always been interested in pursuing an MBA because I want to understand every aspect of business. Recently, I listened to a podcast where Josh Kaufman was a guest, and he explained the core ideas of his book. His insights convinced me to get the book, and I have absolutely no regrets.
The two major insights I want to share today are:
This first insight was something I was already aware of, but it was articulated more clearly in the book. When you decide to pursue an MBA, you are most likely the one paying for it, making it an investment in yourself. To get a return on that investment, you need to land a well-paying career. Therefore, the primary reason to pursue an MBA should be to consider your degree as a ticket to a Fortune 500 interview. If that’s your goal, then go for it.
The book takes you on a comprehensive business journey, covering everything from understanding what people want (market research) and creating value, to attracting customers (marketing), delivering on your promises (sales, delivery, and customer service), and ensuring you bring in more money than you spend (finance).
This is a great book for everyone, but it's especially important for sustainability professionals. Understanding how businesses work is crucial for effectively integrating sustainability into the entire process.
3 Key Takeaway - Podcasts on the Move
Title: Former Netflix CEO: “Hard Work Does Not Matter!” A $278 Billion Company Wasn’t Built On Hard Work!
Podcast: The Diary of a CEO
Insight 1: The Importance of Testing Ideas Early
Marc Randolph emphasizes that every idea should be treated as potentially bad until proven otherwise. The key to successful entrepreneurship is quickly, cheaply, and efficiently testing ideas to validate them before investing significant time or resources.
Insight 2: The Role of Timing and Adaptability in Success
Randolph discusses how the early success of Netflix was largely due to favorable timing with technological advancements like the rise of DVDs and the internet. He also highlights the importance of being adaptable and open to new directions as an entrepreneur.
Insight 3: Leadership and Knowing When to Step Aside
Randolph shares a pivotal moment when he realized that stepping down as CEO in favor of Reed Hastings was the best decision for the company's future. This decision, driven by the understanding that Reed had the experience needed to scale Netflix, ultimately contributed to the company’s massive success.
