Mark Kane 🌍💡

With an organisation-wide sustainability program - there will be a lot of goodwill and lots of ideas, especially from front-line staff. It is essential to harness this goodwill by capturing all ideas, and using an objective prioritisation/scoring matrix agreed in advance with stakeholders, so that all initiatives/projects are evaluated on the same merits. These would typically include return on investment, time/cost to implement (and resource availability), contributions to SDGs, time/cost-savings, contributions to organisational values/goals.

I highly recommend the late great Stephen R. Covey's Quadrant 1, 2, 3, 4 approach - in particular distinguishing between Urgent & Important (Q1) and Urgent & Not Important (Q3). We cannot ignore what is urgent and important, it must be dealt with straight away, but often Q3 masquerades as Q1 and this is where we can find some balance initially when in fire-fighting mode. For long-term balance, most important is to be working and scheduling Quadrant 2 activities (Important, not Urgent) by being here we are productive without stress - it allows us to schedule well ahead and prevent such tasks becoming urgent.

The late, great Stephen R Covey said: "Seek first to understand, then to be understood". First understand the acute challenges of your customers - e.g. energy costs, competitors, cash flow, then frame sustainability initiatives as tangible solutions. Energy Costs - show the return on investment on Solar PV, LED, Insulation etc. and the savings every year thereafter. Competitors - Tenders keep increasing the scoring attributed to sustainability, why leave this % on the table, risking current and future business (Create a matrix of what competitors are doing based on their sustainability reports) Cash Flow - here are government grants and companies that provide capital funding. Frame sustainability as a tangible solution to their problem

1) Here's the existing Problem 2) Here the proposed Solution (or three options) 3) Here's what our competitors/industry leaders do 4) Here's what solution(s) will cost, timeline, resources, the return on investment and the long-term benefits 5) Here's the risks in doing them and risks of not doing them 6) Here's the recommended solution 7) Here's what I am asking for from you (approval, budget, exec sponsorship, resources). 8) Questions

If you describe many of the challenges of the Chief Sustainability Officer - Data Acquisition/Gaps, Reporting, Automation, managing Transformation, getting C-Suite alignment - you are also describing the challenges/expertise of the Chief Information Officer. These two roles can be great allies for change, working together to leverage technology in support of sustainability outcomes.

Knowing when and importantly when not to bring up a sustainability initiative is key, as is preparation and knowing your audience. Your boss will want to know the numbers, return on investment, due diligence on the suppliers - and possibly three different supplier quotes, which you have already assessed and have a recommendation on. Put simply - make it as easy as possible for your boss to say yes by being prepared and having anticipated their questions, having the answers and evidence ready to hand.