The Importance of Understanding the Makeup of a Great Leader When Hiring Sustainability Talent

Although political fear and interest rates have replaced sustainability as the forefront of CEO’s minds, there are still businesses that see the opportunity to grow and build.

After a reset, the zeitgeist is one of pragmatism, rather than one based around marketing outcomes. There is opportunity in organisations with practical exposure to climate change, and really any firm that has a complex supply chain (Financial Times).

Leaders are needed who can see the commercial opportunities, and are able to create a compelling vision, and bring an organisation with them.

When recruiting, how do you isolate these skills? How do you screen candidates on whether or not they can do these things?

We have been told a lot over the years, that if you follow your gut when recruiting, you are giving in to deep-rooted biases. This is probably the case, but your gut will also have a good idea whether or not the person in front of you is a good communicator, or whether or not they can explain an opportunity to you, and if you can see how they would operationalise it.

But you should also use data to back up or disprove your assumptions around candidates when recruiting sustainability leaders. What is their story? What are their achievements? How have they progressed in their career, and where are the examples of them doing what you need them to do in your role?

Getting your recruitment wrong is one of the worst things that can happen in business. It adversely affects culture, time, productivity, cash flow, future hiring and a myriad of other things.

Understanding that the person who sets your vision, and rolls it out is going to be the trigger for the success of your sustainability strategy is a good starting point.

For further insight into the ESG leadership gap, you might find this Reuters article on tackling the green skills gap in the boardroom useful. It highlights three steps to closing the leadership deficit: targeted hiring, upskilling, and stakeholder engagement.