Sustainable management is not just about environmental protection, recycling and waste separation.

Rather, it is about managing a company in such a way that it can survive in the long term. I am often commissioned by companies that have realised the traditional leadership approach will not work in the future and may even endanger the company’s continued existence. Examples include an elitist attitude, stereotypical thinking, such as seeing things in black and white, as well as management-oriented measures instead of employee-focused actions.

What will remain at the end of the day – what will future generations gain from this?

„If you keep squeezing the lemon,
eventually there will be no juice left!“

Building on this, how can employees be motivated and satisfied in such an environment and encouraged to drive change? Progress and positive growth are difficult to establish when new ideas and motivation are nipped in the bud. Yet agility is especially important for success in times like this.

Are you familiar with this challenge in your own professional environment and would you like to know how to adopt a more sustainable leadership style? To help you, I have summarised five tips for sustainable leadership approaches:

The 5 tips for sustainable leadership behaviour

Think long term, not in legislative periods

Managers often plan in terms of career steps. Please don’t misunderstand me, good career planning is important, but it shouldn’t be the only focus. It is beneficial to carefully consider how you can help the company or departments to manage themselves healthily in the long term. Consider what you will leave behind on your career path. Accompanying a company through change processes takes time. Therefore, it requires not only foresight but also sustainable actions, such as training or retraining employees in future-oriented topics, or recruiting people with new skills.

„Franz is a marketing manager and has Margarethe on his team. So far she has had little experience with social media. That will have to change in the future. Franz knows that he will be taking on a new role within the company next year, but he believes it is his responsibility as a manager to provide Margarethe with further training in this area. Following their performance review, they agreed that she would take a social media management course at the beginning of the following year in order to  prepare her for the future.“ 

=> Franz could have overlooked this, but in order to lead sustainably, it is important to think about the future and take targeted measures, even if he will not benefit personally.

Supporting employees

Every manager should give their employees the opportunity to embrace change. How? By explaining the path to them and the necessary steps to get there. Only then can a joint decision be made on how to achieve the common goal. For example, if a job is going to be eliminated, employees should have the opportunity to consider new directions or job prospects together. If a shared future is no longer possible, this must be acknowledge, and it is important to draw a mutual and respectful line under the matter. This is important for both sides!

Frieda is the head of accounting and knows that routine tasks in her department will be automated and eliminated within the next 2-3 years. This also puts Friedrich’s job at risk.

However, Frieda does not want to wait 2-3 years to discuss the prospects with Friedrich. She proactively arranges a meeting to discuss the future with him, pointing out other opportunities within the department and the company. Friedrich expresses his desire to continue his education in payroll accounting with the aim of moving to the HR department in the long term.

Frieda is thrilled! She will evaluate this approach and the necessary, including the budget and initiate the relevant discussions with the responsible person to develop these ideas further.

Get to know and understand your employees at all levels

When change is imminent, it always brings uncertainty for employees (e.g. fear of job loss or change or loss of routine, etc.). Nowadays, we are not only often under „pressure“ professionally, and privately (e.g. relationship problems, financial difficulties, etc.). Sustainable leadership means knowing and taking into account both professional and personal factors, because both have an impact on employees‘ work. Ignoring one side would be a „setting yourself up for failure,“ and nobody wants that. Only together can we be strong and responsive to each other, because as someone told me „talent wins games, teams win championships,“.

„Silvia has a performance problem. She is unable to concentrate properly at the moment and is constantly making mistakes. A staff appraisal meeting is arranged with her manager, Hilde, to discuss the issue. Silvia is upset, so the conversation begins emotionally and defensively. Hilde is irritated and wonders why Silvia is overreacting.

She knows how important it is to think outside the box and that it is often impossible to separate private life from professional life. She plucks up her courage and asks what is really going on. Silvia bursts into tears and explains to Hilde that she is currently going through a separation and will soon be getting divorced. She is worried about her livelihood and her two young children. This is why she is finding it difficult to concentrate at the moment. Hilde cannot ignore this statement and asks how she can support Silvia.

They agree that Silvia should have some coaching to help her through this difficult time and that some of her tasks should be temporarily distributed among the team. „

 

Setting consequences

Where possible, linking poor performance or resistance to change with consequences, where possible, is an important signal for the company and its employees. Please don’t misunderstand, this is not an invitation to dismiss all „stubborn“ employees. However, if there is no sign of insight or improvement, then either consequences must be set (e.g. job change or reorientation) or a conclusion must be reached. Tacitly overlooking this would be a sign of approval which would be fatal for the corporate culture and other employees. Therefore, it is important to address issues openly.

„Heinrich has been working in the sales department for more than a year. He keeps making small mistakes. His boss, Fred, who heads up sales & internal sales, has now told him that this cannot continue. The team and the company are suffering as result of his carelessness. Heinrich apologies profusely and promises to pay closer attention to his work.

A performance improvement plan has been agreed upon and it has been decided that his performance will be closely monitored over the next six months. After three intensive discussions (three-strike principle), it is decided that there is no longer any possibility of working together. Heinrich reveals to Fred that he is actually totally dissatisfied in his role which is why he has been inattentive. He would actually prefer to work in administration rather than sales, as he finds the pressure of sales difficult to cope with.

Fred says he will talk to his colleagues to see if a transfer is a possible. However, Heinrich must be ensure that he makes clear improvements, otherwise the employment relationship will be terminated. Heinrich is grateful for this new opportunity. His performance improves dramatically because he now has a job that he really enjoys and that suits his skills better!

 

Taking the first step

When it comes to change, companies and managers often feel overwhelmed. This can sometimes lead to a situation where the bigger picture becomes obscured. Often though, all you need to do is take the first step after which the organisational structure will start to change on its own. You just have to be brave enough to do it and keep your eyes on the positive goal! Remember you don’t have to go down this path alone. There are consultants and coaches who can support and guide you through such times. This is especially true when it comes to taking the first steps on a new path.

The concept of sustainable leadership sounds much easier to grasp in theory than it is in practice. Many managers currently lack the courage to embark on this path of progress, preferring to remain in safe, familiar territory in the hope that the status quo can be maintained for some time to come. However, once a certain amount of pressure has built up to this point where you can clearly see that something needs to change, the most important thing is to stay calm and approach the issue step by step.