The Turning Point…
People have this amazing ability of surprising everyone around them. As you know, the international crisis brought us a turbulent environment, times of uncertainty, and most of all a great opportunity to change ourselves, to change the corporations, to change our society, in short, to change the world!
For the most sceptical, this change is already happening. See the results from the most extensive survey of CEOs on sustainability: UN Global Compact-Accenture CEO study 2010 A New Era of Sustainability , published in New York at the UN Leaders’ Summit. It is based on a survey of 766 CEOs, 50 one-to-one CEO interviews and a further 50 interviews with additional business leaders and stakeholders.
From the CEO survey:
- 93% say that sustainability will be critical to the future success of their companies;
- 80% say the downturn has raised the importance of sustainability with 83% recognising that it had elevated the role of sustainability and ethics in building business trust;
- 81% say that sustainability issues have become part of their company strategy and operations;
- 86% say companies should invest in enhanced training of managers to integrate sustainability into strategy and operations;
- 72% cited education and 66% climate change as the ‘big issues’ they face.
“The need for a new generation of leadership development was a common theme amongst CEOs. It applies to both academic institutions and the way companies think about their own training programs. They recognize the influence of models and approaches learned in colleges and business schools with 88% saying that education systems and business schools’ development of mindsets and skills needed for future leaders to address sustainability is important or very important.”
The survey reveals a strong positive shift in attitudes from the comparable 2007 survey:
- 96% of CEOs agree or strongly agree sustainability should be embedded into strategy and operations, up from 72% in 2007;
- 93% of CEOs agree or strongly agree that Boards should discuss and act on these issues, up from 69% in 2007;
- 88% of CEOs agree or strongly agree that companies should embed these issues through their global supply chains, up from 59% in 2007;
- 72% of CEOs agree or strongly agree that companies should incorporate these issues into discussions with financial analysts, up from 51% in 2007.
Commenting on the study, Peter Lacy, Managing Director, Accenture Sustainability Services Europe, Africa & Latin America, who lead the company’s work said:
“One of the resounding messages is that CEOs around the world believe leadership development and business education is a top priority. They see a new generation of leadership capabilities as a critical ‘tipping point’ in the transition to a sustainable economy.”
Personally, I couldn’t agree more with this approach. For more than a year, I’ve been inspiring everyone around me for this inevitable change:
http://teresacorreiadelacerda.wordpress.com/2009/06/07/people-can-change-the-world-part-iv
As well putted in the following citation from the survey:
“CEOs see that a new era of sustainability will entail a number of business imperatives and change the face of competition. For example, companies will need to develop a broader sense of what value creation means to society as a whole.”
“CEOs also acknowledge that a new generation of leadership, and concerted efforts to shape a corporate culture supportive of the goals of sustainability, must underpin success in the new era.”
A new generation of leadership is needed. Be inspired:
Forthcoming:
- Speaker for TIAW (The International Alliance for Women) Global Forum, 25-26 October 2010, in Toronto (Canada), with the theme “Effective Leadership for Corporate Sustainability”.
- Speaker for ILA (International Leadership Association) Global Conference, 27-30 October 2010, in Boston (USA), with the theme “The new age of corporate social and ethical consciousness: Toward a new leadership mindset”.
Teresa Correia de Lacerda
tlacerda@sapo.pt
