Forward Thinking: CEOs Driving Sustainability

Future survival requires leaders to reshape their businesses to a more sustainable future. But this challenge is more than net-zero goals. It involves creating new products, services and business models, new relationships with multiple participants in the sustainability ecosystem, transparent and accountable supply chains, and in some cases alliances with competitors.

This puts CEOs in a position of balancing conflicting demands. Board driven strategies versus real world issues; long term sustainability goals versus short term profits; efficient and cost-effective workplaces versus work environments that offer amenities and flexibility to attract and retain the best employees.

CEOs need to manage different ways of thinking about sustainability to adapt to a changing environment. Idealism to set sustainability as the overall higher purpose of the organisation. Strategic Focus to put sustainability in all areas of the organisation’s operations. Pragmatism to balance competing wins and risks of sustainability. Conformism to ensure sustainability supports profit, legal and regulatory compliance.

Managing sustainability transition requires a new set of leadership skills. More than ever leaders need emotional intelligence, listening and empathetic skills to understand conflicting positions and needs of stakeholders, customers, competitors, and employees.

Melanie Cook will facilitate a discussion on the challenges of managing the sustainability transition, drawing on over 25 years of international leadership and management experience including Past President and CEO ExxonMobil Indonesia and coach and advisor to C-suite executives.

This Sustainability Leadership Forum brings together those interested in sharing perspectives and exploring key issues with fellow members. The intimacy of the experience is enhanced when everyone who attends gets to comment and exchange ideas. The hosts are members whose role is to gently guide the group’s conversation.