“I am actually quite good in decision making. I can go fast and quick. But do I leave enough space to capture all the input from my team members? Do I tap into the collective intelligence enough?”
Tom, a young leader in the company where we are providing personal leadership training, posed this beautiful question when we discussed decision making as a critical leadership quality. And with this bi-monthly heartbeat we would like to share this question with you.
Because indeed, your core strength could be your pitfall. How fast do you go? Is your team and/or organization on board? Can they carry that decision?
Almost without exception, we observe in companies that working on their sustainability drive by defining their purpose, identifying the sustainable development goals (SDG’s) that are applicable to their company, certifying their management system, and so on, that they respond to external stimuli. And many companies find it difficult to subsequently embed that in the organization and have the hearts and minds of their people aligned.
What’s required is an inside out approach. This may feel counterintuitive. But take young children; they typically create inside out; they just draw, enjoy the color pencil in their hand and whatever flows from it. And they are not concerned with what anybody likes what they are drawing, or if it’s pretty; children just create. However, when they enter the education system, suddenly the entire process reverses. And it’s becoming all outside in.
Hence, when you want to become purposeful and truly sustainable as an organization, the invitation is not to look outside. Rather, reflect on the bigger context in which you are working. Why does your company exist in the first place? What is the company’s purpose that has a positive impact on all its stakeholders including:
- Customers
- Society
- Suppliers
- Shareholders
- Partners
- Planet Earth
To avoid a green washing exercise and ticking the boxes on SDG’s and/or ESG’s (European sustainability goals), the sustainability drive needs to come from the inside out. Anchored in values and shared strengths, your company can then align its people around the shared purpose and secure its long-term relevance and “license to operate”.
In addition, particularly in a tight labor market, for companies to meaningfully progress the purpose agenda is an excellent way to attract talent to the organization.
If you’re struggling to align your organization with the company purpose, hire and retain talent in your organization and understand that more work needs to be done on purpose, please feel free to reach out to us. We can help you
- Define core business areas that need “repurposing”
- Looking at the full value chain and identify low hanging “sustainability” fruit to get you started
- Identify the tough nuts and develop a strategy how to crack those
- Implement practical solutions
- Train your people in personal leadership
- And much more
This blog is based on the Heartwork newsletter 4th of December 2022. Would you like to read more inspiring content?