Sustainability change agents: leveraging political skill and reputation

Abstract

Purpose Sustainability initiatives are important considerations for twenty-first century institutions. Employees, customers and other stakeholders expect responsible business practices that focus on people, profit and planet in unison. Sustainability efforts require a strong advocate who can champion relevant business practices and embed new practices within the culture and across the entire organization. The purpose of this paper is to explain the tangible actions described as necessary by change agents in order to move sustainability initiatives forward in their organizations. This research employs the narrative provided by these agents in interviews – to inform the activities outlined in an established model of political skill and reputation building. This analysis enables the model to illustrate the sequential patterns and process of events, i.e. antecedents and consequences that are simply assumed in the existing variance models. Design/methodology/approach This research is based on in-depth qualitative interviews with the sustainability managers from a variety of organization and industry contexts (e.g. building products, hospitals, banking, energy, environmental and manufacturing). Findings The exploration of sustainability initiatives reveals the importance of the change agent’s reputation for building trust in their organizations. Reputation is fostered through political skill and persuasion, while leveraging social capital. Research limitations/implications The research is rich in the depth of individual-level phenomena, thereby highlighting the skills necessary to enact change within a variety of industries. However, given the limited sample size, macro-level issues cannot be addressed. Practical implications Political skill is a teachable skill that is enhanced through mentoring and coaching. Sustainability initiatives and their organizations can benefit from leveraging persons with strong reputations to facilitate change. When lacking, persons with content knowledge can be groomed to grow their reputation, network, persuasion and political skills. Social implications Sustainability is vital to the future of our earth and humanity. Business and society would benefit from the growth of this phenomenon. Originality/value The authors aim to help change agents achieve their objectives through consideration of not just the goals, but the process as well.