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Voicing Perplexity -We've entered the age of 'sustainability' as far as the corporate wold is concerned.
Corporate Social Responsibility was once the domain of marketing linked with Corporate giving. Mitigation meant doing good- even if it meant building a park in Michigan to mitigate an oil spill in the Amazon. Now volunteering employees highlight feel good 'Social Impact Reports' (no longer called CSR reports) and the word 'Sustainable' takes on the same challenge as the word 'Integrity' - it's a sliding scale. The UN Sustainability Goals are setting moral precedent and companies who align their corporate sustainability strategies with said goals, get a place at the table with other 'corporate do gooders.' Frankly, it's not enough. "At Monsanto, that makes our mission simple: Provide tools for farmers to help nourish the growing global population and help preserve the Earth for all who share it – people, plants, wildlife and communities." Hugh Grant, CEO Monsanto excerpted from their 2016 Sustainability Report {here} What sustainability means to Monsanto, is not what Sustainability means to more than 3/4 of the rest of the world. If you're Monsanto ( they truly believe their mission is sustainable) you may think the science of modifying nature's DNA to produce more is actually good and sustainable. If you're an organic (real organic) farmer and the 'terminator seed' killed your heirloom seed stock from pollen blowing over the fence on the land owned by Monsanto, you may think differently. If you're one of 38 countries that have banned Genetically Modified Foods (GMOs), you hardly believe Monsanto in their mission to "preserve the earth." If you're one of many countries that have banned glyphosate (an ingredient in Monsanto's Round Up and many processed foods on supermarket shelves) to control weeds, you realize the health dangers of this chemical and hardly consider it a product of a company committed to natural and sustainable eco-systems. The World Health Organization cautiously and well lobbied, labeled glyphosate, "probably carcinogenic to humans." So a problem I see that I'm honored to contribute to solving is how to help (leaders/people in) companies who 'want' to play the 'sustainability' card to truly live up to that responsibility from the inside out. "CSOs are futurists, connectors, innovators, revenue generators and yes, also advocates." Aron Cramer {Greenbiz Blog} It's something to celebrate that corporations are evolving in the advent of the Corporate Sustainability Officer. A superb CSO will build a team that gets things done to meet benchmarks and lead the company to meet it's sustainability goals. The bottleneck in large corporations that didn't start out with a sustainable bent includes the rest of your people who didn't necessarily start at your company as an environmentalist and are not holistically minded. What about that gaping opportunity to be in total alignment with your sustainability promise from inside out? "Companies usually focus on the "last mile" of the manufacturing process, in which items are shipped and sold to the customer. But the "first mile" — where materials for clothing are grown, collected and sourced — is a supply chain that encompasses millions of people whose well-being is largely ignored." Ian Rosenberger, Founder of Thread helping companies like Timberland 'walk' their talk. Sustainable initiatives depending on the corporate sector, need scientists, engineers, sustainability experts, strategists, industry experts, policy experts, innovators, lawyers, ECOLOGISTS, and HOLISTIC experts who not only create change from the level of benchmark measurables - ie. emissions reduction, circular economies, and slashing corporate waste, yet also experts to guide the human transformation of their people to align with and embody what it means to 'be sustainable.' Senior leaders as well as managers all the way through ought to align and embody sustainability for the ROI to multiply in terms of employee engagement, alignment with your message, and... Patagonia - our North Star- says it best... "Integrate innovative sustainability thinking, values and goals into every employee” by making sustainability the responsibility of every member of staff in every department of the business. By freeing corporate social responsibility from the confines of the CSR & sustainability department, Patagonia gets every employee involved in reducing the environmental footprint of the company." Rick Ridgeway, VP Environmental Affairs, Patagonia, {Excerpted from CSRCentral.com} Corporate leaders and their people are consumers too. Pioneering exceptional stewardship requires leaders go the extra mile. In this time of uncertainty it's the transformation of PEOPLE that will change the game. I'm Stephanie Trager, CEO of Intentional Paradigms, a coaching and consulting firm dedicated to supporting the success of organizational leaders and the transformational experts that serve them who are committed to sustainability and ethical business. We help your people transform so your company can lead the Sustainability R-evolution. ![]()
Stephanie Trager, esq.
Intentional Paradigms Coaching & Consulting Leadership Coach, Business Strategist, Energy Medicine Healer, Consultant, Attorney s@stephanietrager.com www.stephanietrager.com
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