Today there are four main reasons companies decide to go green. These drivers are operating costs, customer compliance requirements, market opportunity and one more that is the most important: the leader has decided it’s the right thing for the company to do.
The right thing to do isn’t easily quantified, it’s not market driven or imposed by regulatory authorities. Instead, it’s a values-based decision that connects with the mission of the enterprise and resonates with the strategic perspective of the person in charge. Executives who have led their companies to embrace sustainability usually frame it in terms of responsibility. Sure, they also talk about the payback and efficiencies they enjoy as a result of the new approach, but they just as often comment that they didn’t expect so great a return when they launched their strategy. They just knew it was right.
For these leaders, responsibility is often linked to the good of future generations. They reference their children or grandchildren as the reason they began to think about a different and more sustainable approach. Not that children or grandkids actively lobbied for a greener company – just being here in the world seems to be enough to catalyze new ways of thinking among company leaders.
Don’t underestimate the power of leadership commitment to sustainability. Successful implementation requires the personal enlistment and passion of the person at the top. And depth of commitment is more likely to be based on values than next quarter’s results.
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