Leading to the Common Good: transformational leadership for 21st century sustainability
Leadership has been defined as “a process whereby an individual influences a group of individuals to achieve a common goal”. Because the goal in this case – global sustainability – requires mainstream transformation in thought and deed – the nature of the leadership required also needs to be transformational.
Essential roles for leaders in sustainability include:
- Inspire and facilitate personal & professional understanding about sustainability
- Inspire and facilitate personal & professional engagement with sustainability
- Inspire and facilitate personal & professional development through sustainability
- Inspire and facilitate personal & professional empowerment through sustainability
- Inspire and facilitate personal & professional innovation through sustainability
- Inspire and facilitate a change of actions away from those not suited to progressing sustainability to those well suited to progressing sustainability
- Inspire, facilitate and support the personal and professional courage needed to mainstream sustainability
Requirements:
- Recognition of the need for transformation
- The ability and commitment to engage and take account of long term factors in today's decision-making and resource allocation
- Clarity of vision
- Quality, creative communication for all stakeholders
- Solid shared organisational commitment to taking on the task
- Openness to learning along the way Support for risk taking
- Facilitation for seeing through a new sustainability lens;
- Support to develop whole systems/systemic thinking and doing skills
- Rethinking performance measures
- Ongoing support programme for those engaged transformational/ complex leadership
Sustainability South West, as the region's independent champion of sustainability, are developing this module. A series of interviews havel been undertaken with influential leaders, decision-makers and thinkers to inform resources. Please help us to develop this module by letting us know about useful resources (including case studies) when you feedback.
Shaper modules (specialist sustainability guidance for particular ‘activities’ in the South West) are being developed in response to demand and support from a number of regional agencies. If your organisation is interested in commissioning a module on a particular theme please let us know when you feedback.
This modules is sponsored/supported by:
Sustainability South West
