Getting sustainability a seat in the C-suite

Betsy Henning

Maybe it’s because I live in Portland, Ore., the self-proclaimed capital of the Green Kingdom, but it seems like you can’t swing a dead cat these days without hearing, seeing or saying something about “being green.” Isn’t everyone on the bandwagon by now? Not necessarily, and it’s definitely not a given in what may be the most important room in the house: the C-suite. Getting the attention—and respect—of a company’s top leaders doesn’t always follow suit with the upward trend around all things green. And yet, as anyone reading this site already knows, the commitment and buy-in of top leadership is critical to the success of any green team’s efforts creating the kind of impact we all dream of.

So, make no mistake: You need a seat at the table. Here are few ideas to help you get there.

Getting the attention of the company’s strategic and operational leadership is all about getting out of your head and into theirs. You’ll want to keep track of what’s important to you while never losing sight of what’s relevant to them.

The first step is realizing that while sustainability may be the entire focus of your job and a reflection of your personal values, it is most likely not the top item on your  leaders’ to-do lists. They may embrace it and perhaps have incorporated it into the company’s values or even its strategies. But, chances are that to them, sustainability is still a means to an end at best. That’s not bad, so don’t judge your leaders harshly. Give them credit for making business decisions that support your area of interest, and don’t penalize them for not being the hardcore evangelists that as you are.

Next, frame the landscape for your involvement. In addition to promoting environmental sustainability, be a champion for your company’s full set of corporate responsibilities, including the social, philanthropic, privacy-related and ethical ones. Offering a broad perspective across a number of related areas increases your opportunities for input and allows you to be seen as something more than a Johnny-One-Note.

Don’t stop there, though. Keep looking for ways to integrate sustainability—and corporate responsibility—into your company’s basic business strategy. Recognize that sustainability is most often a component of the larger strategy, not a strategy within itself. Take care to not let your interests become the proverbial tail wagging the dog. And, finally, see your function as your leader does—within a broad management view that includes many important and competing interests, some of which are urgent and need immediate attention.  Acknowledge this, and find ways to show how you can support those causes from time to time. Understand tradeoffs are a necessary part of any C-level job, and offer balanced, forthright and confidential insight that doesn’t necessarily lead with a sustainability angle.

To earn and keep a seat at that all-important table, respect your leaders’ preference for receiving information. No matter how important your message is, unless you play by the rules of how they listen, you risk wasting your time, and, worse, appearing self-interested and irrelevant.

Most leaders are Reds, Type-As, extroverts or whatever the insert-name-here personality test is that’s currently in vogue. One of my favorites, Insights Discovery (pdf), has a fantastic line to keep in mind when communicating with fiery red types: Be brief, be bright, be gone. As a Type-A Red myself, I can assure you: You can take that one to the bank. No matter what types comprise your leadership, learn to first discover and then yield to their preferences for getting and sharing information. You’ll win in the long run.

So now that you have a sense of how to approach and frame your communication, what should you say? Give your leaders a plan. Start by tying your ideas to their strategy—let them see that you understand the larger context. State your objectives, identify the outcomes. Know the resource requirements, and highlight a few of the program details or tactics, just to give them a feel. From there, let them drive the conversation forward with their questions, and always be succinct with your answers. Trust me: They’d rather ask another question than wish you’d stop talking.

Showing up as someone with specific expertise who can also contribute across a broader spectrum of management concerns is the best way to get the attention you want on your primary concern: your company’s sustainability practices and programs. 

Betsy Henning, principal at AHA!, a marketing communications firm in Vancouver, Wash., helps clients develop compelling corporate responsibility stories and deepen engagement with their brands.