What competencies should a company’s leadership demonstrate to ensure its future success? When I say "future success," I really mean "future existence," which certainly can be a mark of success for any company. Anyone in the GreenBiz choir understands that companies...
I have been thinking about the impacts on culture to a brand and its parent when a parent acquires a new brand, particularly a brand known for being green. Think Ben & Jerry’s to Unilever, Honest Tea to Coca-Cola, Burt’s Bees to Clorox or Plum Organics to Campbell’s....
As sustainability becomes more rooted in the supply chain, suppliers and customers have opportunities to align with one another. VWR, an independent provider of products, services and solutions to laboratory and production facilities, did just that, aligning with its...
In my conversations with sustainability leaders throughout the years, I’ve heard varying views on what works to engage others — whether it be employees, CEOs, shareholders or your neighbor — in a productive exchange about how to build a more sustainable world. I’ve...
Having attended my fair share of conferences, I can report with conviction that standing-room-only breakout sessions are a rarity. But this was in fact the case during Aaron Hurst’s workshop “Connecting Company Purpose with Corporate Responsibility & Engagement”...
President Barack Obama is building his green legacy, including a recently announced joint agreement with China to reduce carbon emissions. In this year’s State of the Union address, Obama remarked on climate change and his sustainability legacy. Obama said, “No...
As a recruiting and consulting professional who interacts daily with job-seekers and employers in the sustainability space, I was intrigued by Michael Townsend’s recent article "CSR is Dead," which originally ran at 2degrees. In that piece, Townsend refers to World...
In September, NRG appointed Leah Seligmann as its first chief sustainability officer. Leah’s promotion from director of sustainability highlights NRG’s commitment as a sustainability leader in the energy sector. Of note, NRG recently announced long-term sustainability...
This month, I attended BSR Conference for the umpteenth time. Actually, it was the 18th time. My favorite parts were the CEO keynotes from GlaxoSmithKline, H&M, Maersk and Pepsi. While they all were interesting, Andrew Witty, CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, said something...
This is Part 2 of a two-part series on the retirement phase of a sustainability professional’s career. Those articles came out of a conversation that Chuck Bennett and I organized with six of his “retired” or “transitioning” sustainability friends. Chuck formally...