Leadership for Sustainability

How do you actually make change happen? What’s the right balance between collaboration and competition? How important is it to convince people about the importance of sustainability?

Last year we (Osbert, Morag and Rich, co-founders of Realise Earth) headed for the hills of Westmoreland to camp, walk and talk – to see if we could pool our varied experiences of sustainability leadership to identify, and overcome, the fundamental challenge facing sustainability leaders. (We do our strategy and innovation out in nature.)

That challenge, we agreed, is that action on sustainability comes up against other priorities, and this leads to conflict, which blocks progress.

In this episode we lift the curtain on our conversations, to explain how and why, we not only came to this conclusion, but also came to realise the critical issue is that change needs collaboration, not conflict.

We discuss why, to make change happen, you need to move beyond conflicting priorities and turn your colleagues and stakeholders into active allies working with you towards shared goals.

Looking back at our very different careers in sustainability, we identify the common threads that underpin successful change, and talk through the practical five step approach we developed to help sustainability leaders make change happen:

1. Map the system
2. Discover what really matters
3. Identify common ground
4. Invite them to join
5. Work together for change

We also discuss the core skills sustainability leaders need to work in this way, and share our experience of working with these ‘Inner Development Goals’ in corporate environments.

Listen for rich insights and practical advice that you can apply right away to make change happen.

You'll find all the links mentioned in this episode in the companion guide here:

https://realise.earth/make-change-happen-a-how-to-guide/

What if we saw our purpose as helping create the conditions for people and the rest of nature to thrive – whatever happens? Read about Thrivable Field Notes…

Discover how Leadership for Sustainability can help you make change happen.

Daniella Vega is Senior Vice President of Health and Sustainability with Ahold Delhaize, a Dutch-Belgian multinational retail and wholesale holding company.

Daniella talks with Osbert about this unusual role and the synergies between reducing emissions and improving health. She also talks about leading on Project Ocean, getting rid of single use plastic, as Group Director of Sustainability at the UK retailer Selfridge.

Listen for insights you can apply in your sustainability work including:

• The value of connecting sustainability with other issues that matter to your stakeholders.
• How making big bold moves can be more effective than starting with the easy stuff.
• How to look after yourself and keep going when things are tough.

You'll find all the links mentioned in this episode in the companion blog post here:

https://realise.earth/making-sustainability-something-people-care-about/

“It’s no longer sufficient to think about sustainability through the climate lens. The challenge and the exciting thing now is really grappling with the interconnectedness of the biodiversity crisis and the opportunity and necessity of the circular economy.”

In this episode I interview Sam Gardner, Head of Climate Change & Sustainability with Scottish Power, and formerly Head of Policy at WWF Scotland. In both these roles Sam has been closely involved in the climate and sustainability agenda in Scotland. In the conversation Sam talks about:

• The transformation of Scottish Power from oil and gas to entirely renewable energy sources.
• The importance of continuous engagement with staff and stakeholders, ensuring everyone in the organisation connects their work to climate goals.
• The need for a fair transition to net zero, and to deliver on biodiversity and the circular economy.

Listen for great insights into the challenges of accelerating the pace of change while bringing colleagues with you, maintaining public support and ensuring a just a transition.

Sam also talks about how he has kept motivated over many years of working on sustainability, offering useful ideas we can all apply ourselves and with our colleagues.

You'll find the links mentioned in this episode in the companion blog post here: https://realise.earth/grappling-with-climate-biodiversity-circular-economy-and-a-just-transition/

What if we saw our purpose as helping create the conditions for people and the rest of nature to thrive – whatever happens? Read about Thrivable Field Notes…

Connect with Osbert Lancaster - drop me a message and let me know you listen to the podcast! – and follow Realise Earth.

How do you get started as a brand new sustainability manager? Libby Kerman stepped into the newly created role of sustainability manager with Lincolnshire Housing Partnership just a year after university. Now, two years on, she reflects on what she’s achieved and learned.

Libby talks about:

• the achievements she’s most proud of
• who and what helped her succeed
• tackling her next big task: sustainability reporting

Listen for ideas and inspiration to help you make greater progress on sustainability:

• why you sometimes learn most from people who resist change
• how relationships with colleagues across the business have been crucial
• how external networks of peers are so important
• why you shouldn’t worry that you don’t have all the answers
• podcasts that Libby has found useful on her journey 

You'll find all the links mentioned in this episode in the companion blog post here:

https://realise.earth/how-to-succeed-as-a-new-sustainability-manager/

What if we saw our purpose as helping create the conditions for people and the rest of nature to thrive – whatever happens? Read about Thrivable Field Notes…

Connect with Osbert Lancaster - drop me a message and let me know you listen to the podcast! – and follow Realise Earth.

Courage is identified by the Inner Development Goals as one the key skills needed to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals. 

It takes courage to go against the flow. It takes courage to say things others don't want to hear. It takes courage to innovate and do things differently.

That’s why, if you’re leading on sustainability, you need courage to make genuine progress.

We recently brought together a number of sustainability leaders to discuss courage in their work – in construction, healthcare, engineering, public service, education and more.

Listen now for powerful insights and practical advice that you can apply to be a more courageous and effective sustainability leader.

If you’re wrestling with any challenges as a sustainability leader we might be able to help. Find out how at https://realise.earth/services

What if we saw our purpose as helping create the conditions for people and the rest of nature to thrive – whatever happens? Read about Thrivable Field Notes…

Connect with Osbert Lancaster - drop me a message and let me know you listen to the podcast! – and follow Realise Earth.

At Realise Earth we’ve always been focused on helping sustainability leaders build support for, and catalyse action on, sustainability across their organisation.  A challenge is how to do this at scale.

That’s why we’ve now partnered with the Most Sustainable Workplace Index which can help you do just that.

I recently sat down with Jaime Blakeley-Glover, creator of the Index, to hear his story. Listen to learn:

• Why Jaime believed the Index needed to exist
• The challenges Jaime faced and how he overcame them
• The importance of seriously shifting the culture in organisations 

Whether or not the Index is relevant to you and your work, in itself this a fascinating story of sustainability leadership. 

You'll find contact details and other links mentioned in this episode in the companion blog post here:

https://realise.earth/embedding-sustainability-in-your-organisations-culture-the-missing-metric/

What if we saw our purpose as helping create the conditions for people and the rest of nature to thrive – whatever happens? Read about Thrivable Field Notes…

Connect with Osbert Lancaster - drop me a message and let me know you listen to the podcast! – and follow Realise Earth.

Mentioned in this episode:

👉 Unlock Employee Action on Sustainability with the Most Sustainable Workplace Index

Join us for a webinar with Jaime Blakeley-Glover, creator of the Most Sustainable Workplace Index, and learn how the Index helps you tap into and unlock most employees’ latent motivation to transform your sustainability initiatives – Wed 22 May.

Contact Us

Climate is only one of the planetary boundaries we need to work on. And we also need to tackle a whole range of social issues.

That's why item four and our sustainability leadership manifesto is: "develop and deliver initiatives that offer multiple benefits for people and nature".

In this Roundtable event, our guests, sustainability leaders across a variety of sectors, reflect on their experience of trying to move the agenda beyond net zero in their work.

Listen for insights from the sharp end about how to help colleagues to see the bigger picture and start engaging with the rest of the sustainable development goals.

What if we saw our purpose as helping create the conditions for people and the rest of nature to thrive – whatever happens? Read about Thrivable Field Notes…

Connect with Osbert Lancaster - drop me a message and let me know you listen to the podcast! – and follow Realise Earth.

In this Roundtable event, our guests are:

• Sandrine Ricard, Deputy Director Sustainability & Responsibility with Pernod Ricard in the UK
• Michael Solomon, Founder of Responsible 100
• Sarah-Jane Littleford, Head of Responsible Business: Global Delivery with Fujitsu

These sustainability leaders reflect on their experience of collaboration:

• in their organisations
• across their industry
• and when bringing businesses and NGOs together.

Listen now for valuable insights to help you collaborate better in your sustainability work.

What if we saw our purpose as helping create the conditions for people and the rest of nature to thrive – whatever happens? Read about Thrivable Field Notes…

Connect with Osbert Lancaster - drop me a message and let me know you listen to the podcast! – and follow Realise Earth.

Collaboration is essential to making greater progress on sustainability – within organisations and supply chains, across sectors – and across society globally. 

This is recognised by the UN Sustainable Development Goal 17 ‘Partnership for the Goals’, and Collaboration is one of the five dimensions identified by the Inner Development Goals as essential to achieving the SDGs.

And the fifth call to action in our sustainability leadership manifesto for 2024 is “Seek out opportunities to collaborate and cooperate”.

Identifying the need is one thing, doing something about it is another. 

To prepare for this episode I sat down with Morag and Rich, my Realise Earth co-founders, to discuss how we could draw on our collective experience to offer you some really useful guidance on collaboration.

Here’s what we came up with:

• First I talk about what we mean by collaboration in the context of sustainability leadership
• Then I get into the skills required for successful collaboration and the characteristics of effective teams
• Finally I explore the nitty gritty of collaborating better, ending with specific actions you can start taking tomorrow – whatever your current experience.

You'll find all the links mentioned in this episode in the companion blog post: https://realise.earth/sustainability-leadership-and-collaboration-a-how-to-guide/

What if we saw our purpose as helping create the conditions for people and the rest of nature to thrive – whatever happens? Read about Thrivable Field Notes…