Leadership for Sustainable Futures presents arguments against the prevailing Anglo/US philosophy which puts short-term interest over sustainable development, values shareholders over other stakeholders, and seeks profits at the expense of the environment and society. In China, we recognise that sustainable development, in economic, social and environmental terms, is vitally important for the future of the country. Chinese leaders are set to adopt the scientific approach to development and commit themselves to build a harmonious society , which promises a more equal distribution of wealth, as well as greater emphasis on the protection of the environment. The very key is to put people first a viewpoint that is argued so cogently in your book Leadership for Sustainable Futures. I firmly believe that your book will be invaluable for Chinese enterprises seeking to adopt an approach to doing business which leads to sustainable growth. Dr Qin Xiao, Chairman, China Merchants Group (from foreword of the Chinese translation of the book) A fascinating book with a provocative thesis and numerous case studies of companies. Business Ethics This is a scholarly but readable book that challenges much of what we take for granted about management in the world today. . . Harvard Business School Working Knowledge Papers GL recommends this book to business leaders. We really welcomed Gayle Avery s discussion about how adopting an overall philosophy directs the decisions that companies make, that sustainability isn t a one-off event but a long term approach. Her well-thought out cases provide a valuable insight to alternative solutions such companies find when faced with challenges such as a drop in orders or changing skill demands. The Gallon Environment Letter, Canadian Institute for Business and the Environment For years, many of us have been criticizing the Anglo-American corporate system not only on moral grounds but on practical grounds as well. Gayle Avery moves beyond these criticisms to a detailed examination of precisely why the European systems function better as a business matter as well as a social matter. In so doing, she provides an excellent handbook for business leaders to follow. Leadership for Sustainable Futures should become a classic in its field. Lawrence E. Mitchell, The George Washington University Law School, US At a time when business leaders are coming under severe pressure to adopt the Anglo/US ideal of shareholder value, Leadership for Sustainable Futures convincingly demonstrates the corporate and social superiority of the approach which adds simultaneous value to shareholders and stakeholders. Although its roots lie in Europe, this leadership approach is practiced worldwide by successful companies that outperform the market over time. Gayle Avery s message is brought to life by practical examples from 28 organizations illustrating different facets of sustainable leadership. This well-researched, coherent book makes timely and essential reading. Martin Hilb, University of St. Gallen, Switzerland Many managers in the English-speaking world are seeking an alternative to the prevailing business model which promotes a short-term, shareholder-value approach. In this accessible and highly topical book, Gayle Avery argues that this Anglo/US approach to capitalism and business is seriously flawed and does not bring the quality of life to individuals and societies that many people seek. But what is the alternative and do business leaders have a different choice? This book demonstrates alternative ways of leading sustainable organizations. It identifies 19 criteria for sustainable leadership practices that can be found in globally successful enterprises such as Allianz, BMW, Munich Reinsurance, Nokia, Novartis, and Porsche. Sustainable principles include promoting ethical behavior, long-term thinking and innovation, and valuing employees and other stakeholders such as the community, the environment and fu

Solving today’s environmental and sustainability challenges requires more than expertise and technology. Effective solutions will require that we engage with other people, wrestle with difficult questions, and learn how to adapt and make confident decisions despite uncertainty. We need new approaches to leadership that empower professionals at all levels to tackle wicked problems and work towards sustainability. Leadership for Sustainability gives readers perspective and skills for promoting creative and collaborative solutions. Blending systems thinking approaches with leadership techniques, it offers dozens of strategies and specific practices that build on the foundation of three main skills: connecting, collaborating, and adapting. Inspiring case studies show how the book’s strategies and principles can be applied to diverse situations: Coordinating the activities of widely dispersed individuals and groups who may not even know they are connected, illustrated by the work of urban planners, local businesses, citizens, and other stakeholders advancing ambitious climate action goals via a Community Energy Plan in Arlington County, Virginia Collaborating with diverse stakeholders to span boundaries despite their differences of opinion, expertise, and culture, as illustrated by the bold actions of a social entrepreneur who transformed the global food service industry with the “plant-forward” movement Adapting to continuous change and confounding uncertainty, as a small nonprofit organization mobilizes partners to tackle poverty, water scarcity, sanitation, and climate change in rural India Readers will come away with a holistic understanding of how to lead from where they are by applying leadership principles and practices to a wide range of wicked situations. While the challenges we face are daunting, the authors argue that these situations present opportunities for creating a more just, healthy, and prosperous world.

Sustainable Leadership centers on a powerful metaphor of honeybee and locust behaviors, which illustrate two leadership philosophies with very different outcomes for a business and its viability. This engaging, insightful book provides evidence and a rationale for building a business case to change towards more sustainable practices.

This book by leadership and sustainability experts Giles Hutchins and Laura Storm provides an exciting and comprehensive framework for building regenerative life-affirming businesses. It offers a multitude of business cases, fascinating examples from nature's living systems, insights from the front-line pioneers and tools and techniques for leaders to succeed and thrive in the 21st century. Regenerative Leadership draws inspiration from pioneering thinking within biomimicry, circular economy, adult developmental psychology, anthropology, biophilia, sociology, complexity theory and next-stage leadership development. It connects the dots between these fields through a powerful framework that enables leadership to become regenerative: in harmony with life, building thriving, prosperous organizations amid transformational times. The book is a combination of theoretical frameworks, case studies, tools & practices: Everything the leader needs to be successful in the 21st century. Regenerative Leadership - what's it all about? While the future is uncertain, we clearly see an upward trend towards sustainable conscious business. And this is more than just a trend - we're witnessing a new kind of organization emerging. An organization which is able to rapidly sense and respond to the ever-changing business climate by innovating how and why it creates and delivers value, and the way it engages internally and externally with its ecosystem of employees, customers, suppliers, resources, investors, society and environment. This new kind of organization is the organization-as-living-system that is designed on the Logic of Life: life-affirming businesses that thrive from the inside out, by cultivating conditions conducive for life, internally and externally. These organizations nurture flourishing cultures while focusing on products and services that enhance society and the environment. Regenerative organizations will be tomorrow's success stories.

Pittsburgh has a rich history of social consciousness in calls for justice and equity. Today, the movement for more sustainable practices is rising in Pittsburgh. Against a backdrop of Marcellus shale gas development, initiatives emerge for a sustainable and resilient response to the climate change and pollution challenges of the twenty-first century. People, institutions, communities, and corporations in Pittsburgh are leading the way to a more sustainable future. Examining the experience of a single city, with vast social and political complexities and a long industrial history, allows a deeper understanding of the challenges and opportunities inherent in adapting to change throughout the world. The case studies in this book respond to ethical challenges and give specific examples of successful ways forward. Choices include transforming the energy system, restoring infertile ground, and preventing pollution through green chemistry. Inspired by the pioneering voice of Rachel Carson, this is a book about empowerment and hope.

A practical, bipartisan call to action from the world’s leading thinkers on the environment and sustainability Sustainability has emerged as a global priority over the past several years. The 2015 Paris Agreement on climate change and the adoption of the seventeen Sustainable Development Goals through the United Nations have highlighted the need to address critical challenges such as the buildup of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, water shortages, and air pollution. But in the United States, partisan divides, regional disputes, and deep disagreements over core principles have made it nearly impossible to chart a course toward a sustainable future. This timely new book, edited by celebrated scholar Daniel C. Esty, offers fresh thinking and forward-looking solutions from environmental thought leaders across the political spectrum. The book’s forty essays cover such subjects as ecology, environmental justice, Big Data, public health, and climate change, all with an emphasis on sustainability. The book focuses on moving toward sustainability through actionable, bipartisan approaches based on rigorous analytical research.

Interconnecting the concepts of sustainability, innovation and transformation, this book explains how organizations have successfully transformed themselves and wider society to foster a more sustainable future, and identifies the difficulties and challenges along the way. Part of the Principle of Responsible Management Education (PRME) series, the book promotes a strong voice for meeting sustainability challenges for transformative change in a globalized world through business education and practice. A transition to a more sustainable way of doing business can only be attained by combining technology with profound system innovations and lifestyle changes. The chapters in the book, each written by a strong and well-recognized team of researchers in the field, open up the discussion about a new partnership between sustainability, innovation, and transformation that includes the global society (big world), the biosphere (small planet), and also requires a deep mind shift. The book presents cases from business (including Ikea and Eataly) and other service networks including the Base of the Pyramid (BoP), and illustrates how these organizations have transformed themselves for a sustainable future. The research perspectives are macro (policies and legislation), meso (institutional practices) and micro (business practices and individual behavior). This book is where research meets real-world business and societal practice. The chapters are grounded in business research, specifically the interdependencies between sustainability, innovation, and transformation, which makes for a robust basis for describing, explaining, and understanding the complex challenges faced by business and society in the 21st century. The book is intended for graduate- and postgraduate-level students and executive education with implications for practitioners. Furthermore, it contributes to multidisciplinary research in the field of interaction between business and society with a view to extending the firm-centric view to encompass a broader, systemic, and dynamic understanding of business and societal transformation.

Sustainable Frontiers throws down the gauntlet to business to step up and be the catalyst for a sustainable future. It presents eight keys to unlocking transformational change – through leadership, enterprise, innovation, transparency, engagement, responsibility, integration and future-fitness. Far from being another tame review of corporate social responsibility and sustainable business initiatives, the book dispels the myths of sustainability and challenges us to let go of old systems that are failing to deliver economic, social and environmental transformation. Sustainable Frontiers gets to the heart of why the sustainability and CSR movements have failed in the past and offers a new view of how sustainable business practices can shape-shift to make a genuine difference inside and outside organisations. The book gathers together experiences from across the globe and shows to the reader what can be achieved with the right vision and leadership. Expect to be challenged, engaged and inspired to join the revolution on the sustainable frontier.Making a successful transition to a more sustainable future depends on letting go. Sustainable Frontiers shows how we must find ways to let go of an industrial system that has served us well, but is no longer fit for purpose. How we will need to let go of old styles of leadership and out-dated models of business, high-impact lifestyles and selfish values. How we must learn to let go of cherished ideologies that are causing destruction and beliefs about ways to tackle problems that are failing to resolve crises.If we are to reach sustainable frontiers, it must begin with changing our collective minds - and only then will we change our collective behaviour. How we accomplish such a global mind-shift is the subject of Sustainable Frontiers. And it starts by admitting that those of us at the vanguard of the sustainability revolution also have to change. We will also have to let go of cherished beliefs and strategies that are not working - starting with the way we communicate our vital, life-saving mission.

Bringing together a powerful group of leading educational thinkers, including Michael Fullan, Dennis Sparks, Linda Lambert, and Dean Fink, this volume examines how to sustain improvement through shared leadership.

This edited volume provides managers, as well as students, with the best practices in effectively leading the 21st century workforce and managing change. It applies positive principles arising from the newly emerging fields of positive psychology, positive change, and positive organizational studies to the field of leadership and change; offering managers strategies and tools to lead change effectively, in the present-day boundary-less work environment. At its most fundamental level, the uniqueness of this volume lies in its anchorage in the moral and spiritual dimension of leadership, an approach most relevant for contemporary organizations.