Solving today's environmental and sustainability challenges requires more than expertise and technology. Effective solutions will require that we engage with other people, wrestle with difficult questions, and learn how to adapt and make confident decisions despite uncertainty. We need new approaches to leadership that empower professionals at all levels to tackle wicked problems and work towards sustainability.
Leadership for Sustainability gives readers perspective and skills for promoting creative and collaborative solutions. Blending systems thinking approaches with leadership techniques, it offers dozens of strategies and specific practices that build on the foundation of three main skills: connecting, collaborating, and adapting. Inspiring case studies show how the book's strategies and principles can be applied to diverse situations:
Coordinating the activities of widely dispersed individuals and groups who may not even know they are connected, illustrated by the work of urban planners, local businesses, citizens, and other stakeholders advancing ambitious climate action goals via a Community Energy Plan in Arlington County, Virginia
Collaborating with diverse stakeholders to span boundaries despite their differences of opinion, expertise, and culture, as illustrated by the bold actions of a social entrepreneur who transformed the global food service industry with the “plant-forward movement
Adapting to continuous change and confounding uncertainty, as a small nonprofit organization mobilizes partners to tackle poverty, water scarcity, sanitation, and climate change in rural India
Readers will come away with a holistic understanding of how to lead from where they are by applying leadership principles and practices to a wide range of wicked situations. While the challenges we face are daunting, the authors argue that these situations present opportunities for creating a more just, healthy, and prosperous world.
Preface
Section 1: Roadmap (The Anthropocene) Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: Challenges of the Anthropocene Chapter 3: Opportunities of the Anthropocene
Section 2: Toolbox (Wicked Leadership) Chapter 4: Wicked Leadership Basics Chapter 5: Connecting across Space and Time Chapter 6: Collaborating across Differences Chapter 7: Adapting to Change, Uncertainty, Failure
Section 3: Storybook (People Practicing Wicked Leadership) Chapter 8: Introducing Leadership Stories Chapter 9: Changing Tastes: Influencing Identity and Choices for Sustainable Seafood Chapter 10: Leadership is a Key Ingredient in Water, Getting Direction, Alignment, and Commitment in India Chapter 11: Collective Impact for Climate Mitigation Chapter 12: Innovating Carbon Farming Chapter 13: Sustainable Accounting Chapter 14: Fire Learning Network Chapter 15: Partnering for Clean Water and Community Benefit
