David Grayson, Chris Coulter, and Mark Lee have a useful guide which provides advice on running a sustainable business, predictably called The Sustainable Business Handbook. It covers a wide range of issues relevant to making business better. One of the most helpful features were the large number of practical lists. This should be useful for people wanting to be more sustainable but not sure where to start. Indeed, the authors have plenty of ideas.
Advice On Running A More Sustainable Business
Much of the advice comes in the form of lists that provide useful practical advice. For example,
Review the organization’s leadership competences to include sustainability skills.
Grayson, Coulter, and Lee (2022) page 136
If your leadership doesn’t know what they are doing, either because you hired the wrong people or because you didn’t train them properly, then things aren’t going to go great.
Frame your company’s narrative in a sustainable future.
Grayson, Coulter, and Lee (2022) page 232
Often people want to be more sustainable, they just don’t see how what they do fits in. Everyone can make a positive impact, and leaders can help people see this.
The Five Cs Of Sustainability Communciation
The authors give advice on effective messaging. They outline five Cs of sustainability communication. Always look to see if your communication has these five characteristics.
- Clear: Understandable to all.
- Credible: Believable, i.e., no greenwashing.
- Complete: Fit message to the strategy and ensure more information is available when needed.
- Compelling: Don’t be afraid of being emotional. A better world should sound inspirational.
- Customized: Targeted to the recipient.
The Challenge Of Doing The Right Thing When It Is Easy
Sustainable business should not destroy people’s lives. The right to such care applies to the people working in the sustainable business. This cuts against the traditional idea that business is all about squeezing all the work you can out of the employees for the benefits of the shareholders. (Although to be clear there often isn’t a financial benefit to being a monstrous boss. Tired employees can do bad jobs and cause more problems than if they had just gone home on time).
What makes people stay late at work? Often it is to be seen. The employee wants to appear to be committed and doesn’t feel able to leave while the boss is in the office. For a manager in such an organization this creates a peculiar obligation. You should go home at a reasonable time. As the authors say managing in a sustainable business means:
Discouraging long hours by personal example.
Grayson, Coulter, and Lee (2022) page 136
This may sound easy but lots of managers find it hard to do. They are in the work-all-hours mindset. Remember time at home is something that you owe your employees to make their lives better. (And hopefully your family will like it too but that depends a bit on who you are and whether they want you home).
For more advice on running a sustainable business see Building Allies For Sustainability, Lower Cost Is Not Always Better, and Triple Bottom Line
Read: David Grayson, Chris Coulter, Mark Lee (2022) The Sustainable Business Handbook: A Guide to Becoming More Innovative, Resilient and Successful, Kogan Page,
