Leadership Essentials for the Sustainability Challenge
. Presenter: Arnold Smit
Centre for Business in Society
Leadership is morality magnified Joanne B. Cuilla
A World of Paradox
Progress
• Scientific and
technological progress
• Global
interconnectedness
through markets and
media
• Unprecedented growth in
wealth and prosperity
Trouble
• Population trends
• Inequities, disparities and
injustices
• Degeneration of social
and environmental
systems
• A new era of conflict
Our challenges accumulate faster than
our ability to come up with solutions
Explanations?
• The fruit of modernity: a
fractured worldview
• Social and ecological
disengagement
• Breakdown in value systems
and bridging mechanisms
• A crisis of the human spirit:
individually and collectively
Earth overshoot day
“For the rest of the year,
we are accumulating debt
by depleting our natural capital
and letting waste accumulate.”
21 Aug
2010
Where do we get another
planet?
Two imperatives
• Biological: to learn to live sustainably
– the laws of nature dominate
• Political: to aspire to improve our
material standard of living
– alternative economic paradigms
compete
Jonathan Porritt
Two alternative futures
From breakdown to collapse
From breakdown to breakthrough
Jonathan Porritt
Paradigm shift
Economy
Society
Environ-
ment
Eco-nomy
Society
Sustain-ability
Environment
Easier said than done…
• The nature of business competitiveness is
changing
– Global East accelerates economic growth
– Global North tightens up on environmental
issues in supply chains
– Global South fights poverty and social
instability
More questions than answers…
• Can we maintain the traditional concept of
growth?
• Is growth through technological innovation a
viable way forward?
• Is long term economic growth sustainable at all?
• Is economic growth the answer to SA’s
challenges regarding poverty, unemployment,
health, etc?
• Is the answer perhaps in kerbing consumption
instead of promoting growth?
The moral imperative
to make big changes
is inescapable. Al Gore
Sustainability is here
to stay or we may not
be.
Niall Fitzgerald
Sustainability?
Responsibility?
Accountability?
How do we respond?
The language of responsibility
• Corporate responsibility
– is the responsibility of the company for the impacts of
its decisions and activities on society and the
environment through transparent and ethical
behaviour that: • contributes to sustainable development, including the health and
welfare of society;
• takes into account the legitimate interests and expectations of
stakeholders;
• is in compliance with applicable law and consistent with
international norms of behaviour; and
• is integrated throughout the company and practiced in its
relationships.
King III
• Responsible leadership from the perspective of
King III
– Good corporate governance is essentially about
effective, responsible leadership
– Responsible leaders build sustainable businesses by
having regard to the company’s economic, social
and environmental impact
– Responsible leaders reflect on the role of business
in society
– Responsible leaders do business ethically rather
than merely being satisfied with legal or regulatory
compliance
– Responsible leaders do not compromise the natural
environment and the livelihood of future generations
– Responsible leaders embrace a shared future with
all the company’s stakeholders
• Responsible leadership from the
perspective of the GRLI:
– Re-visiting raison d’être of the firm
• Create economic and societal progress in globally
responsible and sustainable way
– Leadership and ethical fitness
• The grounding of actions in a system of values
which recognise societal interdependence and
long term sustainable development
– Responsible corporate statesmanship
• The organisation as an active contributor to
societal well-being and evolution
• Another set of questions:
– What makes a leader responsible?
– What kind of leader is responsible?
– Is responsible leadership a factor of
• Personality in terms of profile or style?
• Attitude in terms of values and virtues?
• A factor of context in terms story and development
trajectory?
• Responsible leadership from the perspective of
language and metaphors
– Maak & Pless (2006): A relational approach to
responsible leadership within the context of a
stakeholder society
• “Leadership then, could be described as the art of building
and sustaining morally sound relationships with all
relevant stakeholders of an organization.” (p 39 – 40)
• New metaphors (continued):
– Servant: an ethics of care towards staff, society and
environment
– Steward: custodian of social, moral, and
environmental values and resources
– Coach: facilitate development, enable learning, foster
collaborative interaction, develop skills in individuals,
teams and the organisation as a whole
– Architect: build an inclusive integrity culture with
reference to meaningful work, management
processes and structures, moral infrastructure and
external stakeholder dialogue
– Storyteller: creator and communicator of moral
experience and systems of meaning through stories
that make ethics and values become real
– Change agent: initiate change towards a value-
conscious and sustainable business in a stakeholder
society.
• The development of responsible leaders
– Maak & Pless: “developing responsible leaders, then,
is on the one hand a question of identifying the right
people and on the other hand a question of
educating and developing them through
appropriate means” (p 49)
• Appropriate means?
– Mainstream responsible leadership
into executive and management
development programmes
– Create experiential learning
opportunities in cross-sector
partnerships that serve as “business-
in-society” incubators (cf Maak &
Pless)
– Coaching for responsible leadership
in terms of role definition and
development
Summary
• Can we change our worldview?
• Can we imagine a sustainable world?
• Can we develop a new language?
• Can we reframe leadership?
“All of us – the private sector, civil society,
labour unions, NGOs, universities,
foundations and individuals – must come
together in an alliance for progress.
Together, we can and must move from
value to values, from shareholders to
stakeholders, and from balance sheets to
balanced development. Together, we can
and must face the dangers ahead and bring
solutions into reach.”
Kofi Annan
USB-ED Centre for Business in Society
• Focus areas:
– Globally Responsible Leadership
– Business and Sustainability
– Social Regeneration
• Services:
– Development programme
– Consulting and advice
– Research and thought leadership
• Programme highlights for 2011
– Certificate in Sustainable Corporate Responsibility
Strategies
– Certified Sustainability Assurance Practitioner (CSAP)
– Business Engagement at the Base of the Pyramid
– Leadership and management development for NPOs
Dr Arnold Smit
Executive: Centre for Business in Society
Tel: +27 21 918-4404; E-mail: [email protected]