STEP towards the future

The will to act upon sustainability is coming together. We see this in Davos, we see it in Paris; we see this in the consumer demands and in the equity analytics, where sustainability is a defining value marker for companies.

Business has become political; to some extend it always has been, but citizens of the world look to corporations to help us save the world now. And we will punish those who decline.

Businesses need to establish and deliver on sustainable strategies.

Leadership development and leaders are therefore an intersection point for success: Leaders must not only create sustainable organisational contexts, but also contribute in developing sustainable business models, while encouraging broad endorsement, and ensure organisational alignment.

Individual and global excellence depends on leaders’ ability to perform a simultaneous professional and personal transition towards sustainable business.

Sustainable Transition Executive Program (STEP) is part of the Nordic solution; a sustainability contribution of HR7 Business Psychology.

We are here to help.

Business psychology can play a bridging role in the needed mind shift.

HR7 applies the term “transition” to describe the ability to create something new in the situation leaders and organisations find themselves in.

With STEP HR7 makes the possibility for up- and coming top leaders in both public and private sector to hone their skills in sustainable transformation.  STEP will work on how strategy becomes solid, how to create momentum, how to place a company in the world, through the individual role and ambition of leadership.

The transformation is not limited to product or service. It will define the company’s relationship with the world.

Companies cannot hide and they shouldn’t run. Ask Volkswagen if hiding was the best tactic? Ask Lego where to run from the scrutinizing public.

As the Danish philosopher K. E. Løgstrup (1905–1981) said, where there are humans, there are ‘ethical demands’. Mutual consideration is becoming a strong peaceful force driving the world away from the ‘old economy’ towards a more considered future – as a counterweight to war and destruction.

All branches have an ethical demand to build a more sustainable world from their corner of it.  All round sustainability has both an inner, within the company or leader, and an outer component, the environment and society. The process of bridging the two into a desirable future is a perfect job for business psychologists.

“Competency development necessary for future executives comes as a natural next step for us at HR7. We want to address the need to reflect on the paradox that companies should both secure long-term sustainability and survival within “the old economy”” says Director, Cristian Lima.

STEP draws on the advantage of the Nordic sustainability field, like businesses involved in the industrial symbiosis of Kalundborg and the renewable Island of Samsø.

When we look back in history and investigate what has driven successful Nordic sustainable strategies; how they have come alive and become solid? We find that it is not one man, it is not a one-company strategy, it is not only a scientific breakthrough or a brilliant idea and it is not only a governmental master plan. It is all of those components in particular constellations. Real sustainable strategy requires that you can influence more than your own company strategy.

The Nordic countries have a long tradition for sustainable evolvement – we have a lot of practice in open democratic development and in clean-tech and green energy. Never the less we still consume much more than our fair share of the Earths ecological resources. If all humans had the same ecological footprint as the Danes we would need the equivalent of 4,5 Earths according to WWF.

We don’t only have the tradition and knowledge in the Nordic countries; we have a political moral obligation to contribute.

Let’s take the next STEP.

Fra Nordisk Ministerråds COP21 blog