I observe that, as it happened with Innovation a few years ago, some senior managers are using Sustainability to enhance their personal brand. Putting genuinely and effectively Sustainability at the heart of the strategy to combine profitable growth and a positive impact requires exemplary business leaders in all dimensions:
- Advocate for a better society and climate action.
- Transcend sector boundaries in their strategic thinking, visualizing continuously new value chains, connections and opportunities.
- commit to very ambitious decarbonization goals and transformative business models to achieve them.
- Promote collective leadership, collaboration with ecosystems and constructive questioning of the statu quo.
Anna Borg, President and CEO of the Swedish energy company Vattenfall, is a good reference in this regard. Vattenfall has set itself the goal of achieving net zero emissions (scopes 1, 2 and 3) by 2040. I have selected a few quotes that illustrate her perspective on Sustainability:
- “We are heavily underestimating the risk of staying in the existing business models”.
- “Vattenfall''s purpose is to enable fossil-free living within one generation. It is not our sustainability strategy, it is our business strategy.”
- “It is about doing the right thing and doing something that really matters, and at the same time building a really profitable business around that”.
- “If you look at the value chains the way you used to do, you get limited in the way of thinking and may be starting to split the distance before there is a walk to divide.”
- “When it comes to leadership, authenticity is key.”