Leaders + Managers (Blog 2): Tips for Leaders

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The first blog in this series showed, based on a series of interviews, what is needed on a broad scale: vision, the right people, and momentum. But knowing what it takes to turn sustainable intention into reality is not the same as knowing how you can contribute to that yourself. This blog offers five tips for leaders. What role do you play as a leader? And how do you ensure you get things moving? Read more below.

1. Create leadership in others

The best leaders point out the direction, but leave room for others to find their own path to that horizon. This requires letting go—something that might sound counterintuitive to many leaders. "Be the host, not the hero," says Ian Helgering*. Autonomy provides space for employees to give their own interpretation to their role within the organization. It is not without reason that Henk-Jan Beltman* attributed more importance to having the right people than to the vision in our previous blog: "I am firmly convinced that if I had walked in front of the cart, this would have never succeeded."

Real impact occurs when leadership spreads throughout the entire organization. By placing responsibility as low as possible in your organization, teams or individuals feel connected to the goal, according to Pelle de Laaf*. "For me, impact is about influence—exerting influence on something. I ask everyone here: what is your personal edge?" Cathelijne asks this of everyone who works for her organization, increasing ownership among her employees.

2. Embrace uncertainty

There is no instruction manual for transition or systems thinking. "When you talk about sustainability, it is often about breaking patterns," says Cathelijne Lania*. This inherently brings uncertainty. Those who wait for certainty will never act. Sometimes this turns out well, as with Mark Groot Wassink*: "You can act like it was all planned out, but that’s not true. Reality is stubborn, and it could just as easily have failed." Henk-Jan* agrees: "50% is simply momentum; there are so many good entrepreneurs with great teams who ultimately just faced headwinds." That doesn't make him better than others; a portion of luck was also involved.

Breaking patterns does not only happen within the organization. The institutions you depend on as an entrepreneur, such as banks or other financiers, must also be willing to understand and accept your vision. Multiple leaders in our study describe similar scenarios where a bank or investor asks why they are spending money on something that, in their view, adds no value to the company. "In my experience, those are often the exact investments that yield true profit," says Cathelijne. It is then extra important to engage people with a strong story.

3. Take a clear stance

A vision without a backbone is dead on arrival. For many, sustainability is linked to people who want to change something out of idealism. But that doesn't mean it all happens in harmony or automatically. It is rowing against the current, which makes it crucial for a sustainability leader to stand their ground. Henk-Jan is direct about it: "You must have a specific way of working that you hold onto with a firm hand. You have to maintain high discipline in the organization. You shouldn't shrink away from holding people to agreements, or even firing them. What I see a lot with entrepreneurs who want to make the world a better place is that they are way too nice and feel too much of 'yes, we are doing this together.' But it's not all sunshine and rainbows. It is just brutally hard work."

Such a firm stance only carries weight if it is grounded in something real. What brings people along is a deeply lived belief in the direction you have chosen. "To go somewhere, you have to believe yourself that it is possible," Cathelijne describes.

4. Know where your energy has the most effect

The list of sustainability topics is endless: climate, biodiversity, social inequality, circular economy, and so on. "There is so much competition between possible topics, what are you going to do first? Do you go for the people or do you go for nature?" Ian wonders.

Because there are so many choices, the question of who you are as a leader becomes even more important. Not every leader needs to make the same impact, and not every leader is suited for every type of impact. Cathelijne describes how her collaboration with another executive worked well because they were so complementary: "What needs to happen in a company and how do you lead that to the next step? That is a different kind of leadership than how I do it—I am more of a 'what is wrong with the world and what can I do?' type."

A good leader therefore not only knows where their energy goes, but also knows what type of leader they are—and aren't. Some leaders are better at coming up with ideas, while others excel at getting people behind the idea. "A good leader has the courage to hire better people," Henk-Jan agrees. Knowing where your energy has the most effect starts with honesty about what you have to offer.

5. Know when to seek external help or collaboration

The interconnectedness of themes, sectors, and stakeholders makes it impossible to make a decisive difference on your own. Cathelijne: "A lot of groundwork is needed before things can get moving. Namely stakeholder management—making sure enough people are warmed up to your idea."

That support base also has an external side. Pelle shows how an organization can reach beyond its own stadium: "We sit at serious tables, not just at conferences but also in various network groups within the industry. In fact, we initiate them ourselves; for instance, we set up a stadium sustainability group."

Mark adds: "A small group of dedicated people with a clear goal can achieve and set off a great deal. You can't do it alone, but together with a few people, you can build that ecosystem." Such an ecosystem can carry your mission much further than you could on your own. Therein lies the immediate tension of sustainable entrepreneurship: collaborating too much can undermine your competitive position, even if it contributes the most to the mission. This demands a different perspective on what success actually means. Henk-Jan therefore believes companies should look at their goals differently: "Money should be a means to achieve your goal, rather than the end goal itself."

Conclusion? 

The five tips above come from people who have done this themselves. Which leaders do you see doing this well? Who inspires you because they persevere when their ideas encounter resistance? We’d love to know. In the next blog, we will look at what sustainability requires from managers.

Are you ready for external help? Contact one of our change agents.

* For this blog series, we spoke with:

• Mark Groot Wassink: Co-founder Roetz-Bikes, former Director of Sustainability & Innovation at Auping, Associate Partner at TOSCA
• Henk-Jan Beltman: Impact entrepreneur, former CEO and Chief Chocolate Officer of Tony's Chocolonely, co-owner of Fish Tales
• Cathelijne Lania: Founder of A Beautiful Story
• Pelle de Laaf: Head of Finance at Johan Cruijff ArenA
• Ian Helgering: Changemaker at Limitless, MBA Leadership & Collaboration at Nyenrode
• Gaby Rosier: Strategic Sustainability Manager at Axians