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Leading for sustainability: implementing the tasks of leadership

Leading for sustainability: implementing the tasks of leadership Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to expand the field of sustainability/corporate social responsibility research to include a focus on leadership. It aims to present an exploratory study of senior leaders in organizations formally adopting principles of sustainability and how these leaders enact the tasks of leadership: setting direction, creating alignment, and maintaining commitment within the context of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a qualitative approach, sampling senior executives from organizations formally adopting sustainability practices and using a structured interview to uncover their leadership practices related to sustainability. Findings – Leaders adopting sustainability practices are similar to other “effective” leaders and yet they also have additional capacity and mindset to include a wider expanse of stakeholders and a different mindset as to the purpose of organizations. Research limitations/implications – Limited sample of senior executives/CEOs, as well as a difficulty in attesting an organization's level of commitment to sustainability; this research links the field of leadership to the field of sustainability and calls for a more in‐depth investigation into the roles leaders and leadership play in the successful implementation of sustainability practices. Originality/value – Leaders interested in pursuing a sustainability agenda should pay attention to how the concept is framed and introduced into the organization; they should build capacity in their systems (educational, communication, rewards, performance, etc.) and culture to support sustainability, and broad and deep stakeholders engagement is essential for success. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Corporate Governance Emerald Publishing

Leading for sustainability: implementing the tasks of leadership

Laura Quinn; Maxine Dalton
Corporate Governance , Volume 9 (1): 18 – Feb 18, 2009
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References (48)

Publisher
Emerald Publishing
Copyright
Copyright © 2009 Emerald Group Publishing Limited. All rights reserved.
ISSN
1472-0701
DOI
10.1108/14720700910936038
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to expand the field of sustainability/corporate social responsibility research to include a focus on leadership. It aims to present an exploratory study of senior leaders in organizations formally adopting principles of sustainability and how these leaders enact the tasks of leadership: setting direction, creating alignment, and maintaining commitment within the context of sustainability. Design/methodology/approach – The study uses a qualitative approach, sampling senior executives from organizations formally adopting sustainability practices and using a structured interview to uncover their leadership practices related to sustainability. Findings – Leaders adopting sustainability practices are similar to other “effective” leaders and yet they also have additional capacity and mindset to include a wider expanse of stakeholders and a different mindset as to the purpose of organizations. Research limitations/implications – Limited sample of senior executives/CEOs, as well as a difficulty in attesting an organization's level of commitment to sustainability; this research links the field of leadership to the field of sustainability and calls for a more in‐depth investigation into the roles leaders and leadership play in the successful implementation of sustainability practices. Originality/value – Leaders interested in pursuing a sustainability agenda should pay attention to how the concept is framed and introduced into the organization; they should build capacity in their systems (educational, communication, rewards, performance, etc.) and culture to support sustainability, and broad and deep stakeholders engagement is essential for success.

Journal

Corporate Governance – Emerald Publishing

Published: Feb 18, 2009

Keywords: Leadership; Economic sustainability; corporate social responsibility

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