How toChampion Sustainability

… From the Middle

Bob Willard bobwillard@sympatico.ca www.sustainabilityadvantage.com

5-Stage Sustainability Journey

5. Purpose/Passion Values-driven founder / CEO

4. Integrated Strategy Enhanced business value

3. Beyond Compliance Eco-efficiencies

PR crisis Regulatory threat

2. Compliance Regulatory enforcement

1. Pre-Compliance

Sustainability Change Process

Step 1: Wake Up and Decide

Sustainability Change Process

Step 3: Assess Current Realities

Step 4: Develop Strategies

Step 1: Wake Up and Decide

Step 2: Inspire Shared Vision(s)

7-Step Sustainability Change Process

Step 3: Assess Current Realities

Step 4: Develop Strategies

Step 6: Mobilize Commitment

Step 7: Embed and Align

Step 1: Wake Up and Decide

Step 2: Inspire Shared Vision(s)

Step 5: Build the Case(s) for Change

TNS A-B-C-D Change Process

Based on “Applying the ABCD Method,” the Natural Step website, (www.thenaturalstep.org/en/canada/applying-abcd-method).

Step 3: Assess Curent Realities

Hindering Forces

Helping Forces

C U R R E N T R E A L I T Y

SustainabilityVision

KeyExecutive

KeyExecutive

Hot Issue 2

Hot Issue 1

Hot Issue 3

Key Customer

CustomerDemand

External Threat

ProfitPotential

External Threat

Company Values

BudgetPlan

RegulationsTalentWar

Mindset

CapitalShortage

CostPressures

MgmtSystem

CompensationSystem

Change Fatigue

NGOActions

Work-load

Step 4: Develop Strategies

Circle ofControl

Circle of Influence

Circle of Concern

Leverage Pointsfor Action

Key Executives

SustainabilityVision

Based on Stephen R. Covey, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People

7-Step Sustainability Change Process

Step 3: Assess Current Realities

Step 4: Develop Strategies

Step 6: Mobilize Commitment

Step 7: Embed and Align

Step 1: Wake Up and Decide

Step 2: Inspire Shared Vision(s)

Step 5: Build the Case(s) for Change

The Sustainability “Sweet Spot”

The Sustainability “Sweet Spot”

Business Results

Non-FinancialStakeholder

Interests

New Products and Services New Processes New Markets

New Business Models New Governance Systems

Andrew Savitz, The Triple Bottom Line, Jossey-Bass, 2006

7-Step Sustainability Change Process

Step 3: Assess Current Realities

Step 4: Develop Strategies

Step 6: Mobilize Commitment

Step 7: Embed and Align

Step 1: Wake Up and Decide

Step 2: Inspire Shared Vision(s)

Step 5: Build the Case(s) for Change

7 Leadership Practices

Assess Current Realities

Develop Strategies

Build Case(s) for Change

Mobilize Commitment

Embed and Align

Wake Up and Decide

Inspire Shared Vision(s)

Get Credible, Stay Credible

Meet Them Where They Are

Practice “Planful Opportunism”

Influence the Influencers

Dialogue

Collaborate, Educate, Network

Piggyback Existing Initiatives

Dialogue

Asking

ClarifyingInterviewing

Telling

AssertingExplaining

Observing

BystandingSensing

DIALOGUE

Exploring eachother’s assumptions to generate meaning

A d

v o

c a

c y

I n q u i r y Low High

Low

High

Based on Peter M. Senge et al., The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook, Doubleday, 1994

Collaborate, Educate, Network

Customers

Networks in OtherDepartments

Your Inner Circle

NGOs

Government Agencies

Senior ExecutiveNetwork

Suppliers

Influence the Influencers

You

Influencer

Influencer

Important Senior Executive

“Yes”

“Yes”

“Yes”

You

Important Senior Executive “No”

Ineffective Approach Effective Approach

7 Leadership Practices

Assess Current Realities

Develop Strategies

Build Case(s) for Change

Mobilize Commitment

Embed and Align

Wake Up and Decide

Inspire Shared Vision(s)

Get Credible, Stay Credible

Meet Them Where They Are

Practice “Planful Opportunism”

Influence the Influencers

Dialogue

Collaborate, Educate, Network

Piggyback Existing Initiatives

7 Leadership Paradoxes

Assess Current Realities

Develop Strategies

Build the Case(s) for Change

Mobilize Commitment

Embed and Align

Wake Up and Decide

Inspire Shared Vision(s)

7

PRACTICES

You Have to Do It Yourself;

You Can’t Do It Alone

Things Need to Get Worse Before They Can Get Better

Go Small to Go Big

Go Slow to Go Fast

To Get “Hard Results,” Work on the “Soft Stuff”

Motivators Inhibit Commitment

One Person’s Dream Is Another Person’s Nightmare

Do it Yourself; You Can’t Do It Alone

YouKindredSpirits

KindredSpirits

TheirNetworks

TheirNetworks

Whole Company

Whole Company

WholeIndustry

WholeIndustry

AllIndustries

AllIndustries

The

World?

For “Hard Results,” Use “Soft Stuff”

EXTERNAL

MARKET

FORCES

Productsand Services

Business Goalsand Strategies

Organizational Systems,Structures, and Processes

OrganizationalClimate

Leaders’Competencies

Customer Satisfactionand Business Results

LeadershipStyles

50-70%

20-30%

Based on a model developed by the Hay Group and IBM

Commitment vs. “Motivators”

Belgard-Fisher-Rayner Inc. © 1991. Used with permission.

Commitment

Meaning Involvement

RelevanceClarity

Go Slow to Go Fast

Fast Decision

ExecutiveIdea

ExecutiveDecision

Sell / Communicate

CompanyBuy-In

Dialogue / Engagement

Collective Decision and Buy-In

Faster Buy-In

XX X

XX

ExecutiveIdea

Go Small to Go Big

Small Moves Big

Shifts

7 Leadership Paradoxes

Assess Current Realities

Develop Strategies

Build the Case(s) for Change

Mobilize Commitment

Embed and Align

Wake Up and Decide

Inspire Shared Vision(s)

7

PRACTICES

You Have to Do It Yourself;

You Can’t Do It Alone

Things Need to Get Worse Before They Can Get Better

Go Small to Go Big

Go Slow to Go Fast

To Get “Hard Results,” Work on the “Soft Stuff”

Motivators Inhibit Commitment

One Person’s Dream Is Another Person’s Nightmare

7 Potential Derailers

Displaying Hubris

Failing to Produce Results

Getting Off to a Bad Start

Changing Everything at Once

Mishandling Office Politics

Being a “Problem Child”

Succumbing to Stress

7 P A R A D O X E S

7

PRACTICES

Assess Current Realities

Develop Strategies

Build the Case(s) for Change

Mobilize Commitment

Embed and Align

Wake Up and Decide

Inspire Shared Vision(s)

Transformational Leadership

7 P A R A D O X E S

7

PRACTICES

Assess Current Realities

Develop Strategies

Build Case(s) for Change

Mobilize Commitment

Embed and Align

Wake Up and Decide

Inspire Shared Vision(s)

7

DERAILERS

5-Stage Sustainability Journey

5. Purpose/Passion Values-driven founder / CEO

4. Integrated Strategy Enhanced business value

3. Beyond Compliance Eco-efficiencies

PR crisis Regulatory threat

2. Compliance Regulatory enforcement

1. Pre-Compliance

Nested Dependencies

ECONOMY

SOCIETY

ENVIRONMENT

Based on Bob Doppelt, The Power of Sustainable Thinking; Peter Senge et al., The Necessary Revolution;

Linear Take-Make-Waste Model

ECONOMY

SOCIETY

TAKE MAKE WASTE

PRODUCTSWASTE

ENVIRONMENT

WASTE

Based on Bob Doppelt, The Power of Sustainable Thinking; Peter Senge et al., The Necessary Revolution; Ray Anderson, Mid-Course Correction

Unsustainable Take-Make-Waste Model

ECONOMY

SOCIETY

TAKE MAKE WASTE

PRODUCTSWASTE

ENVIRONMENT

WASTE

Increasing concentrations of waste

from manufacturing, use, and disposal

Overconsumption andundermining people’s

ability to meet their needs

Increasing concentrations of waste from

extraction

Degradation of nature by physical means

Bob Doppelt, The Power of Sustainable Thinking; Peter Senge et al., The Necessary Revolution;Ray Anderson, Mid-Course Correction; The Natural Step’s four systems conditions

Cyclical Borrow-Use-Return Model

ECONOMY

SOCIETY

BORROW USE RETURN

SERVICESLESS

WASTE

ENVIRONMENT

Based on Bob Doppelt, The Power of Sustainable Thinking; Peter Senge et al., The Necessary Revolution

Sustainable Borrow-Use-Return Model

ECONOMY

SOCIETY

BORROW USE RETURN

SERVICESLESS

WASTE

ENVIRONMENT

Radical resource productivity

Ecological redesign and

closed-loop production

Investment in natural capital

Service economy

Responsible consumption andsupport for people’s

ability to meet their needs

Based on Amory Lovins, Hunter Lovins, and Paul Hawken, Natural Capitalism; Bob Doppelt, The Power of Sustainable Thinking; Peter Senge et al., The Necessary

Revolution; and Ray Anderson, Mid-Course Correction

Reinventing the Economy

• Low-carbon economy vs. fossil fuel-based economy• Local supply chains vs. global supply chains• Services vs. products• Responsible consumption / thrift vs. over-consumption• Low / No-growth model vs. “grow or die” model• New ownership models: employees, customers, co-ops,

social venture funds, government funding• New company purposes: “For-benefit / B-companies,”

“social enterprises,” “fourth sector,” “hybrid companies” 

In Summary …

Lead the transformation like any culture change

Can protect & enhance company value

Sustainability is smart business

Relevant to existing business priorities

Opportunity to help reinvent the company

Many willing, helpful partners and networks

Opportunity for leadership … by example

How toChampion Sustainability

… From the Middle

Bob Willard bobwillard@sympatico.ca www.sustainabilityadvantage.com