Less ego and more eco – this was the permeating message at our recent Climate Week NY panel discussion where we explored what it will take to create a more sustainable future.
We were joined by Jae Mather, CEO at Carbon Free Group, Niamh Corbett, Head of Americas & Global FS Practice Lead at Board Intelligence, Kurt Soderlund, Founding CEO & Board Member at Safe Water Network, and Farrell Calabrese, Purpose and Sustainability Leader at Crowe to discuss what levers for sustainable change they find most impactful in their work.
Over the last year, we have hosted a series of sustainable leadership dialogues asking the question, “What leadership do we need to accelerate sustainable action?”. These dialogues have been distilled into our sustainable leadership playbook, Levers for change: accelerating sustainable action.
The 2020s are the decade where we must deliver sustainable action. Businesses are powerful engines for change and uniquely poised to deliver it at scale.
To do this, leaders must acknowledge where the gaps are in their organization, face their blind spots, and make the shift from incremental to transformative change.
Bridging the gap requires a mindset shift
For Mather, the biggest catalyst for transformational change is a mindset shift.
“Until we confront our blind spots and our mindset, we can't change anything.”
Unless leaders shift their mindset to become stewards for change, businesses cannot reach the level of transformative change required to make impact.
As Mather pointed out, traditional leadership is about individualism and ego. But we need to go to eco; and eco means systems.
Re-thinking traditional business models
Our discussion highlighted an urgent need for traditional business models to evolve. Leaders need to get comfortable with being uncomfortable, to open the door for different ways of thinking that will accelerate sustainable change.
“Every organization has a gap between ambitions and abilities. Ask yourself: what do we need to stop doing? What do we need to start doing?” says Mather.
Incremental change only takes us 40% of the way toward reaching our sustainability goals – the next 60% require a new way of thinking. And that means businesses must rethink the models of the past or they won’t be able to transform deeply.
A sustainable future calls for radical collaboration
Soderlund agreed that leaders need to take risks and engage in radical collaboration to solve challenges.
“I do think there is a big gap there and an opportunity for corporate organizations to expand their networks and connections,” says Soderlund.
It all comes down to challenging the current paradigms we are living in and thinking about how you can invite others into your vision and encourage them to act.
At Brandpie, we’re big advocates for radical collaboration and working with others to accelerate action and shape a more sustainable future. To move from incremental change to sustainable transformation, leaders must ask themselves and their organizations what sustainability challenges are they in a position to solve. With clarity around this, we can align with others who share our goals.
Governance can be a big agent for change
Businesses should have clear, unifying purpose to ensure the organization is heading towards the same goal.
“It's about making sure that you can get the internal and the external narrative aligned,” says Corbett.
Fundamentally, businesses need to look at how they affect change in the boardroom – to create real change, it needs to be led not just from the top but throughout the organization.
Governance can be a big agent for change. Although we need radical collaboration and leadership at every level to take action, businesses must embed sustainable initiatives into their decision making to trigger change.
Dial up your ambition as corporate stewards
So, how do we bridge that gap? Leaders need to ensure they include the right people in the room and design inclusive strategies to seek perspectives from those not usually represented in the room.
“It’s requires thinking about what is best for the world instead of being best in the world. That is the mindset shift,” says Calabrese.
Businesses should develop continual learning loops and focus on making improvements each day. Inviting others into the conversation will help us be better leaders and take the solutions we have to scale.
To see how you, as a leader, can dial up your ambition as a corporate steward, read our guide on dialling up your ambition as a corporate steward here.
Sustainable leadership playbook
Levers for change: accelerating sustainable action
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