It takes courage to challenge deeply held beliefs and ideological assumptions, particularly when they are held by your peers, and it takes insight and skill to think systemically, build the adaptive capacity of an organisation, and inspire others to develop new strategies and learn new ways of operating. The chapters within this section of The State of Sustainability Leadership explore the characteristics required of today's sustainability leaders.
Melissa Lane is Professor of Politics at Princeton University and a Faculty member on The Prince of Wales's Business and Sustainability Programme. This article is extracted from her forthcoming book, Eco Republic. It provides an eloquent description of the ethical challenge posed in Plato’s Republic – that even in the face of overwhelming evidence, we refuse to accept the misguidedness of our dominant systems of values, practices and norms. She explores how we might address this failure of the collective imagination in relation to climate change.
Download 'Eco Republic' by Professor Melissa Lane.
Lindsay Hooper is the Director of Executive Programmes at CPSL. Her chapter explores the range of approaches currently being explored by leading businesses to build the capacity of their teams. She notes the professionalisation of sustainability as a specialised corporate function, but also spots a strong trend towards companies equipping mainstream leaders to respond to sustainability within their existing roles.
Download 'Developing the Leaders of the Future: What Leading Companies are Doing to Embed Sustainability Through Education' by Lindsay Hooper.
Who are 2012's top sustainability leaders in business, government and civil society? Feed into our research for 2012's State of Sustainability Leadership and share your views.
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