'Manage' Your Way To Sustainability
As I learn what innovative organizations are doing, I’m inspired by the intelligence and passion of the individuals on green teams. They are truly diving change in the workplaces. One of the most important success factors for these teams is support from executive leadership. Buy-in and participation at the highest level means the teams are aligned with the mission and vision of the organization.
Effective leaders set the tone, defining their organizations with their vision, conviction and commitment. Effective visions provide an absorbing, positive image of the future. It’s not just about what to avoid, it’s about doing more good.
Changing organizational culture by incorporating sustainability as part of the vision and mission of the organization is not easy. So, how do we get the world to change and implement sustainability practices? We don’t. We change. We lead by example. We inspire, educate, and communicate the three tenets of sustainability - environmental, economic, social - and their interconnectivity throughout the organization.
How have you transformed your organizational culture? Share your ideas around culture change and sustainability implementation activities by commenting below.
I look forward to the day when our organizations really start realizing the benefits of putting energy into culture change as a way to embed sustainability progress. As I like to say, all the energy efficiency successes and sustainability policy implementations in the world are great -- but not even all the advancements combined can match the progress we make when we focus on culture. Empowering people to make changes by educating, training and inspiring them is the least expensive AND most effective way to create sustainable hospitals.
Thanks for posting to the blog. I hope that others will also join into this conversation - because as you point out, this is critical to our success of helping hospitals and health care develop sustainable sustainability practices in our organizations.