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: arnold.smit@usb-ed.com