Supporting the Modern Sustainability Leader: A Service Provider's Guide to Delivering Real Value
If you're finding it harder to retain sustainability clients these days, you're not alone. The ones who started with basic ESG reporting are now tackling organization-wide transformation. The field has evolved, and your approach as a sustainability service provider needs to evolve with it.
I've spent 18 years working with sustainability leaders across sectors, watching their roles transform from nice-to-have initiatives to mission-critical functions. BSR's recent report "The CSO at a Crossroads" confirms what I'm seeing in the field - the game has changed, and service providers need to change with it.
In this article, I'll cover exactly how to deliver what today's sustainability leaders need. You'll learn:
- The four distinct types of sustainability leaders you'll encounter
- What each type needs to succeed (and what they don't)
- Critical success factors that work across all types
- How to become their go-to partner for the long haul.
Let's start with the new reality these leaders are facing.
The New Reality for Sustainability Leadership
Today's sustainability leaders face a complex balancing act. While they have more authority and visibility than ever before, they're also navigating increased scrutiny, regulatory pressures, and the need to demonstrate tangible business value. The entrepreneurial "wild west" days of sustainability are giving way to a more structured, compliance-focused environment.
Understanding Four Distinct Leadership Archetypes
Based on both BSR's research and my own direct field observations, four distinct sustainability leadership archetypes are emerging:
#1 The Emerging Champion: A professional who has taken on sustainability responsibilities alongside their primary role, often driven by personal passion or organizational need. These leaders bring valuable business acumen and internal relationships but may lack formal sustainability training. They excel at leveraging existing company relationships while needing support in sustainability fundamentals and quick wins to build momentum.
#2 The Steady Manager: A professional focused on managing sustainability within established frameworks and systems. These leaders bring strong operational and compliance expertise to the role. They excel at risk management and reliable reporting while focusing on delivering incremental improvements within existing business models.
#3 The Integrated Strategist: A professional driving sustainability integration across all business functions and decision-making processes. These leaders bring strategic thinking and cross-functional expertise to the role. They excel at connecting sustainability to business value while actively shaping corporate strategy and stakeholder engagement.
#4 The Transformative Change Agent: A professional reimagining how business can address critical sustainability challenges. These leaders bring visionary thinking and change management expertise to the role. They excel at driving innovation and systemic change while fundamentally reshaping business models and industry practices.
Examples of Tailored Support
Understanding these archetypes is only the first step. Service providers must tailor their support to match each leader's needs and maturity level:
The Emerging Champion
These newly-minted sustainability leaders need foundational support to build credibility and momentum:
- "Getting Started" toolkits and basic assessment frameworks
- Templates for sustainability assessments and initial reporting
- Introduction to key frameworks (GRI, SASB, etc.)
- Guidance on identifying and executing quick wins
- Support in building their first business cases
- Training on sustainability fundamentals
- Connections to peer mentors in similar roles
The Steady Manager
Operational leaders who need efficient systems and compliance support:
- ESG data collection and reporting systems
- Compliance tracking tools and regulatory updates
- Risk assessment frameworks
- KPI design and tracking mechanisms
- Sustainability report templates
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- Audit preparation assistance
- Staff training programs
The Integrated Strategist
Strategic leaders who need sophisticated tools to drive organization-wide integration:
- Advanced stakeholder engagement strategies
- Scenario planning frameworks
- Financial impact analysis models
- Cross-functional collaboration tools
- Strategic planning facilitation
- Executive communication support
- Industry benchmarking analyses
The Transformative Change Agent
Visionary leaders who need support for systemic change:
- Systems change methodologies
- Innovation frameworks
- Future trends analysis
- Multi-stakeholder coalition building support
- Business model transformation roadmaps
- Advanced impact measurement approaches
- Policy advocacy strategies
Critical Success Factors Across All Archetypes
While each sustainability leader archetype requires tailored support, our research and field experience reveal 7 universal needs that transcend leadership style or maturity level. Understanding and delivering on these critical success factors can help service providers become invaluable partners to their clients while driving more meaningful sustainability outcomes. Here's what to focus on:
Educate Staff Across Departments Develop role-specific training programs. Customized training that uses familiar terms and links sustainability directly to role-specific outcomes will save your client time and energy. For example, procurement teams need different sustainability context than marketing teams.
Design content that resonates with different job functions. Frame sustainability in terms each department understands - operations cares about efficiency, sales about customer demands, finance about risk and return.
Help link initiatives to customer retention and market differentiation. What's the LTV of your clients' customers? How much would new or repeat business inaction cost? Quantify the business impact whenever possible.
Facilitate Cross-Departmental Collaboration. Act as neutral mediators in workshops and meetings. ESG/Sustainability Committees co-run by you and the CSO can move quicker and achieve better outcomes (without the potential drama).
Offer structured decision-making frameworks. Provide tools that help prioritize initiatives based on impact, feasibility, and strategic alignment.
Create accountability systems that keep projects on track. Help establish clear roles, responsibilities, and timelines across departments. One of my clients is seeing success with a retainer agreement solely based on ongoing accountability and project management support!
Create templates that translate complex data into compelling narratives. Templates can be tested, tweaked and scaled with minimal effort, saving time while maintaining consistency.
Become an Indispensable Partner in the New Era of Sustainability
The sustainability field has professionalized significantly, requiring service providers to evolve alongside their clients. Success demands both technical expertise in areas like climate science and ESG reporting, and the ability to support different types of leaders at various stages of their sustainability journey.
By understanding which archetype you're supporting and delivering both archetype-specific solutions and universal success factors, sustainability services providers can accelerate their client's progress while building lasting strategic relationships.
The days of one-size-fits-all sustainability consulting are over.
Today's successful service providers must be able to meet sustainability leaders where they are while helping them envision and achieve where they need to go.
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Leadership & People Development Partner | Executive & Leadership Coach | "Good Business" & Social Impact Advocate | Founder @ Wildly Rising
1moFabulous article, Heather E. Burns! Thank you for sharing this.
MARKET STRATEGIST | PARTNERSHIPS | RESEARCH/INSIGHTS | ENVIRONMENTAL | REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE | ESG | HOTELS/TOURISM
1moSo well-structured across the diverse facets of defining real value in the quest for attaining full sustainability.
Helping Sustainability Leaders Overcome Growth Challenges and Scale Their Impact I Business Intelligence for Sustainability + Climate Solutions Providers I CT Sustainable Business Council
1moHere's the BSR report https://shorturl.at/Xv6CM