Leadership and Culture: Sustainable leadership and corporate culture
Inner development is the basis for successful transformation
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SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP AND CORPORATE CULTURE
Sustainable transformation requires a fundamental paradigm shift: from “What’s good for our economy is also good for our society” to “What’s good for our environment and society is also good for our business”.
Despite clear facts about what adjustments the economy, society and politics would have to make in order to keep to the 1.5 degree target agreed in the Paris Climate Agreement, the IPCC (Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change) reports annually report the alarming news: The gap between “recognition of the need for action” on the one hand and actual “action” socially and economically on the other is currently larger than ever before.
Terra Institute has been helping companies deliver on their climate promises, fill existing knowledge gaps, and prepare leaders for upcoming regulations for more than a decade.
We also help you position yourself as a strong employer brand, as young talent in particular attaches great importance to ESG (Environmental Social Governance) issues.
THE IMPORTANCE OF CORPORATE CULTURE
Corporate culture significantly controls the values, attitudes and behavior of people in an organization. This has already been clearly demonstrated in many studies.
It influences decisions, motivations and loyalty to action within the team and is a crucial booster when it comes to achieving sustainability goals, meeting necessary compliance measures and developing innovative, resilient business models. If the planned sustainability strategy is not underpinned by a company-wide, integral awareness and linked to an authentic sustainability culture, there is a high probability that all sustainability and transformation plans will be difficult to implement, will fail, or will simply end in a greenwashing performance that is highly risky in the long term.
ADVANTAGES OF CONSULTING WITH TERRA FOR A POSITIVE CORPORATE CULTURE
As with all far-reaching change processes, the external transformation in corporate strategy also requires an internal development, or as Peter Drucker said more than 40 years ago: “culture eats strategy for breakfast”.
And yet, while many companies have already set out with impact analysis, reporting, sustainability strategy, climate accounting and circular business model development, the topic of sustainable culture and sustainable leadership is often not yet on the agenda.
This carries the risk that sustainability strategies and projects may encounter resistance within the organisation, falter, end up in a superficial and risky greenwashing performance, or simply fail to reach their full potential. For those who incorporate leadership and culture development, it holds an even greater opportunity: through targeted competence building, a sustainable purpose and lived values, it is possible to unleash the forces of change throughout the organisation, strengthen organisational resilience and secure the company’s future viability.
SUSTAINABLE CULTURE AS A COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE IN THE WAR FOR TALENTS
And yet another, essential competitive advantage results from this, an attractive employer brand in the increasingly competitive labor market; because: A lived, sustainable corporate culture and sustainable leadership is also one of the most important factors for the formation of the employer brand. Green companies are significantly more attractive in the labor market compared to others. The Green Workplace Index 2022 clearly shows both.
THE TERRA APPROACH: 360° CONSULTING AND COACHING IN ALL ASPECTS OF SUSTAINABILITY
When working with our clients, we incorporate leadership and cultural development from the outset, ensuring the implementation of the sustainability strategy, competitive advantage, attractiveness, and future viability of our clients.
THE COMPANIES
WHO HAVE CHOSEN US
LEADERSHIP AS A POWER OF CULTURE
SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP: COMPETENCIES, VALUES & ATTITUDES
Leaders have a critical role to play in sustainable transformation. In the way leaders see the world, how they provide vision and direction, how they solve problems, how they foster collaboration, and how they lead, lies the key to sustainable change.
SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP NEEDS ATTITUDE
Managers have more than a purely culture-shaping role model function on the path to a sustainable company. It is much more a matter of demonstrating a personal attitude.
Their task is to also give room to uncomfortable insights, to question basic assumptions underlying our current economic system, to name conflicting goals, and to enable an open and controversial discourse in the organisation. And: to make courageous decisions.
COMPETENCIES & SKILLS FOR SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP
The requirements for Sustainable Leaders are correspondingly diverse. In addition to a high level of personal maturity, the following competencies are particularly important:
- The competence to deal effectively with complexity,
- a visionary, meaningful and transformative leadership style,
- Strong relationship skills and strong relationships with stakeholders and employees
- Conflict skills,
- Collaboration and mobilisation skills,
- Courage, creativity, and perseverance when vision and reality still seem far apart,
- Self-leadership and regulatory skills in dealing with uncertainty.
TERRAS APPROACH TO CONSULTING FOR THE CREATION OF A VISIONARY AND POSITIVE CULTURE
In our many years of working with sustainability pioneers in organisations, we have witnessed many “truth moments.” In these moments, through insight and empathy, came that magical transformation that was later called the birth of sustainable commitment by these people. They make the difference between standstill and change, they give entrepreneurs and leaders the strength and confidence to resolutely lead the way towards regenerative business.
SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP TRAININGS
In our targeted Sustainable Leadership trainings, we use a proven methodology to induce sustainable change in the mindset of the leaders, which takes place in the experience of the following “Moments of Truth”:
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Recognise – and make visible – the “Big Gap” where we have decoupled from people and nature.
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Identify beliefs of conventional economics and radically reformulate them in terms of a regenerative economy.
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Recognizing oneself as the greatest resource and guiding oneself mindfully and compassionately in deep connection.
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Recognize that a different economy is possible and create the image of a desirable future.
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Have the courage and perseverance to fix the cause, not the symptom.
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Choosing to work together and establishing a new paradigm of connection and cooperation in your own field of action.
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Maintain creative tension and act coherently.
These “Moments of Truth” can be understood and used as cornerstones and guiding principles for Sustainable Leadership to enable leaders to guide their organisations from a conventional through to a sustainable, ending with a regenerative economy.
TERRA INSTITUTE IS A PARTNER OF THE INNER DEVELOPMENT GOALS (IDGS)
Aware of the gap between the need for a rapid turnaround to sustainability and what is actually happening, the Inner Development Goals Foundation Initiative was established in Stockholm in January 2020.
At Terra Institute, we welcome and support the initiative as an official partner since 2022. The IDGs describe 23 capabilities and qualities that need to be built and established in businesses and society to achieve the Sustainable Transformation Goals. These can serve as a guideline for a corporate culture that is promising in terms of sustainability.
The IDGs were identified and evaluated by a group of over 4,000 scientists and organisations in a co-creative process.
They confirm our findings from our 2018 study, which we developed in collaboration with various universities (WU Vienna, Boku Vienna, University of Vechta, University of Gothenburg, University of Brno, Free University of Bolzano, and other partner institutions) and in dialogue with companies in the Erasmus Plus Projekt CASE.
We combine our long-standing expertise in all aspects of sustainability consulting with effective and proven concepts of leadership training, and organisational cultural development.
In addition to these capabilities, we incorporate other established concepts:
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Agile and Transformational Leadership,
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Positive psychology and resilience,
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Complexity & Conflict Management,
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Design thinking and creativity techniques,
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Systemic approaches.
360° ORGANISATIONAL, CULTURAL, AND LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT FOR SUSTAINABLE BUSINESS
Based on the 360° consulting approach of our many years of experience in accompanying organisations on their way to sustainable management, we accompany you holistically or situationally.
Whether in 1:1 coaching, workshops or learning and development journeys: With experience-based content and competence transfer, we provide space for personal insight and development, open the dialogue between people and strengthen the connection between people and their most important stakeholder: nature.
Sustainable transformation in organisations starts with the people who work in them. The movement can unfold at the leadership level as well as emerge and grow in grassroots movements through employees.
In both cases, the following criteria are crucial for successful sustainable transformation:
- Relevant skills and competencies are available or can be successively developed, e.g. sustainability, complexity management & resilience,
- Established platforms for internal communication can be used collectively,
- Strong communication & relationship skills and conflict competence as culture defining characteristics,
- Actors are organisationally interconnected and networked,
- The drivers of change in the company represent as many organisationally units as possible,
- Clear authority to change is granted by the one corporate strategy and purpose.
CULTURE CHANGE AND CHANGE MANAGEMENT: SENSES AND VALUES FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
With our Sustainable Culture Assessment Tool, we analyse the maturity of a sustainable culture and collaboration in the company with the participation of the leadership and selected internal stakeholders.
We highlight strengths and clarify and prioritise the potential for improvement:
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Do the corporate values you live by match the sustainable transformation of your organization?
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Is the purpose meaningful enough to attract and retain highly skilled talent?
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Is the current corporate culture mature enough to deliver the required innovation performance of sustainable transformation?
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What “hidden agendas” are blocking rapid progress?
Based on the analysis conducted (questionnaire and interviews), companies receive a valid basis for setting up an effective implementation plan and creating the best conditions for sustainable transformation.
We are available for an informal discussion with interested companies.
If our customers make rapid progress in terms of sustainability, we see our mission fulfilled.
THIS IS HOW YOU BENEFIT FROM OUR EXPERTISE
During our work in Sustainable Leadership and Sustainable Culture Development, we at Terra Institute have developed and sharpened several products.
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Sustainable Leadership Camp (3 days)
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Sustainable Leadership Learning Journey (1 to 2 years)
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Impulse workshop “Sustainable Leadership” and “Empowering Sustainable Culture” (1 day)
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Executive coaching, mentoring and supervision
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Leadership trainings on selected sustainability topics, such as Circular Economy, Net Zero Strategy, Compliance Update, and more.
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Future Skills Workshops (e.g. IDG Guide, complexity management, resilience)
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Team development for startups and organisations in sustainability transformation.
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Corporate culture check and process support
We would be happy to provide you with more detailed information here and are of course available for an informational discussion.
CONSULTING SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP – OUR TEAM
Henriette Hager
Henriette is a trained economist, leadership and team coach, systemic conflict consultant as well as trainer for Sustainable & Transformational Leadership, Resilience & Complexity Management. She has 23 years of experience as a consultant in organisational transformation and culture development processes.
In 2012 Henriette Hager founded her own coaching practice and is still active today as an executive & team coach, conflict consultant and facilitator for a variety of well-known companies from different industries.
Renata Rizzo
After a long career in multinational companies in various sectors, from tourism to food and beverage, as Senior Director of Marketing and Product Innovation, Renata is now fully dedicated to helping businesses and local communities determine the most appropriate path to sustainability for their needs.
She also provides her diverse experience to areas and companies in the hospitality industry to develop strategies, measures, and communications to support CO₂ footprint measurement and Earthcheck certification processes. In the United States, Renata earned the Success Coach Certification and accompanies groups and leaders on their awareness and development journey.
Evelyn Oberleiter
Co-founder and CEO Terra Institute. She has been accompanying companies in deep change processes for 20 years and has her focus on organizational development, corporate culture processes, as well as sustainable leadership approaches.
Evelyn has a high level of process competence and results orientation, an extended ability to analyze and reflect, high communication skills, and strong systems thinking. As a personal coach, she primarily accompanies people in top management.
Jörn Wiedemann
Jörn Wiedemann specializes in organisational development, the implementation of efficient and structured communication spaces and processes, large group facilitation, training and coaching for communication (in groups) and the creation of common good balance sheets.
In his work, Jörn is regarded as a creative and humorous networker – eloquent, reliable, authoritative, discreet, strong in implementation, structured, concrete and direct, with good analytical skills, quick comprehension and broad knowledge, high results orientation and a 100% focus on sustainability aspects.
Markus Kristen
Markus Kristen is a certified educator. He has worked in leadership positions, built two strong companies, and has been advising companies of various sizes and industries, including multinationals, SMEs, and dynamic start-ups since 2004.
Markus is a senior consultant with extensive experience in business transformation to sustainability, stakeholder engagement and leadership training.
Vera Steisslinger
Vera Steisslinger is a transformational facilitator and perspective coach. In the Terra Institute, Vera Steisslinger works as an integral health coach with high competence in body-oriented trauma work.
With the interplay of warmth and clarity, cordiality and precision, networked thinking and sensitive perceptiveness, she sees her role as a “guide”. Her scientific professional background as a graduate agricultural biologist, with biomedical work practice and neuroscientific competence, allows her to connect the inner, psychological aspects of sustainability with the context of external transformation requirements. Her passion is empowering people to break new ground and make the complexity of current changes manageable.
Contact
Do you have questions or would you like our support on your way to becoming a sustainable company?
The easiest way to get in touch with us is here!
Please note our privacy policy and the GTC.
Thank you very much! We are looking forward to your message!
office@terra-institute.eu
Tel. +39 0472 970 484.
AT A GLANCE: SUMMARY OF SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP AND CORPORATE CULTURE
1. WHAT DOES SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP MEAN?
Sustainable leadership refers to a type of leadership in which leaders drive a sustainable agenda and commit to a sustainable future for their company, communities, and the environment.
Often this approach is seen as a form of transformational leadership style, where leaders share visions and values for a sustainable future and work with their employees and other stakeholders to achieve these goals.
2. WHAT IS UNDERSTOOD BY LEADERSHIP CULTURE?
Leadership culture is the result of visible leadership behaviors and the underlying motives, attitudes, and values of leadership.
Leadership culture is reflected, for example, in the quality of relationships between managers and employees and in the company’s internal communications, i.e. also in processes and organisational structures
In addition, the leadership culture has a significant influence on employee satisfaction and loyalty and is also critical for the economic and sustainable success of a company as well as for the success of change and transformation processes.
3. HOW CAN I RECOGNIZE A SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP STYLE?
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Sustainable Leaders live have a strong commitment to sustainable transformation and have a positive target image of a regenerative and social economy firmly in mind.
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They are aware of the complex challenges today and along the way.
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Leaders who are committed to greater sustainability in the company have a strong sense of empathy for different stakeholders and themselves and can rely on your strong self-leadership skills.
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Sustainable leadership is characterised by a strong ability to collaborate with different stakeholders.
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Sustainable Leaders understand how to communicate complex interrelationships in a comprehensible way and how to communicate with different stakeholders in an “addressee-appropriate” way.
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In doing so, you follow your inner mission, in the spirit of which you consistently make even unpopular decisions.
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Guided by their inner compass, they can act authentically and congruently with their inner beliefs, values, and feelings.
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Last but not least, they are characterized by intermediate results, progress and successes achieved, with which they activate the mobilisation forces in the organization.
4. HOW CAN I RECOGNIZE A SUSTAINABLE CORPORATE CULTURE?
A sustainable corporate culture is based on a strong, sustainable corporate goal that recognizes and defines people, society and the world as its very specific mission. It is the breeding ground on which the corporate culture can develop.
Exemplary characteristics of a “sustainable corporate culture” are:
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Cooperation and relationships are more important than competition and personal advantage. This applies to internal cooperation as well as to relationships with business partners and stakeholders,
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High awareness of complexity and a distinctly constructive error culture,
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Nature is included as a stakeholder, e.g. in meetings and routines,
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Coherence between professional and personal goals of managers and employees,
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Open and personal communication at eye level,
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High level of conflict management and resolution skills,
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Mindful approach to health, stress and work-life balance.
5. HOW DOES A SUSTAINABLE LEADERSHIP APPROACH AFFECT THE COMPANY'S SUCCESS?
There are some studies that have examined the impact of Sustainable Leadership on organisational performance.
An extensive study by Bharadwaj et al. found that sustainable leadership practices have a positive impact on companies’ business results by increasing employee motivation and engagement, improving innovation, and enhancing the company’s reputation.
Another study by Hansen et al. found that sustainable leadership has a positive impact on the rapid establishment of sustainable business practices and thus has a central role in securing a company’s future.
6. HOW CAN YOU TAKE CONCRETE STEPS TOWARDS A SUSTAINABLE CORPORATE CULTURE?
Interventions on the way to a sustainable corporate culture are:
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Analyse current defining cultural characteristics and identify beneficial and critical cultural patterns.
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(Further) development of leadership and cultural guidelines in terms of sustainability.
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Executive coaching and leadership training based on new competency models (e.g. Sustainable Leadership)
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Workshops to develop “game changers” that can be used to overcome critical cultural patterns.
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Systematic development and empowerment of culture-shaping behaviors, e.g. through routines and symbols, trainings and workshops.
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Building internal mentorships and communityships.
Likewise, an agile and participative approach as well as the provision of sufficient resources (people, time, budget) is critical to success.
BRESSANONE HEADQUARTERS
Terra Institute Srl
Via Sant'Albuino 2
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Italy
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Austria