CSO BACK STORY - Weinreb Group

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Charlene Lake, AT&TCollaborator, Risk TakerPerhaps it was Charlene Lake’s years asa journalist that taught her to take risks.After graduating with a bachelor’s degreein journalism and mass communications,Lake spent a couple of years injournalism before joining AT&T in 1986.She dabbled in various communicationsroles, including financial, product andemployee communications, beforesettling into the external affairs function.“I was asked to start a public affairsprogram. Then I acquired thephilanthropic and volunteering efforts,and went on to build out an advocacyfunction for the company,” she recalls.Sustainability has arguably been practiceat the telecommunications behemoth forall 130 years of its existence, accordingto Lake, but it wasn’t an orchestratedeffort. But in 2007, there was arealization that, “our efforts needed tobecome more disciplined.” Lake, alongwith a colleague and a supportive boss,got the CEO’s buy-in. Soon thereafter,instituting sustainability as a strategicfunction reached the board of directors.“Not only did the board receive ourproposal well, they also included a newcorporate citizenship charter in theirexisting public affairs committee,” shesays. Contrary to most of the companieswe researched for this report, Lake, whowas named Chief Sustainability Officerin late 2007, continues to sit out AT&T’sexternal affairs function.“There was a lot of discussion aroundwhere to seat the function. We chose[external affairs] because of a realizationthat sustainability for us meant beingin tune with our social, environmentaland community stakeholders, and theexternal affairs department was alreadyin sync with that,” she says.“Our discipline hasno roadmap to follow.We learn everything onthe job. There are situationswhen you have absolutelyno idea on whatto do next, you just haveto figure it out”-Charlene LakeLake’s journey through the company’scomplex organizational structure [SeePage ], hasn’t been without its risks.In fact, she credits the abilities to“recognize when a door is open andthe courage to walk through it” as beingcrucial in her success as a CSO. “Ourdiscipline has no roadmap to follow. Welearn everything on the job. There aresituations when you have absolutely noidea on what to do next, you just have tofigure it out,” she says.She also believes that the perfectsustainability chief must “score poorlyon the megalomaniac meter.” Lakeexplained: “there is a high degree ofauthority without control in this functionand that means occasionally youneed to give credit to others who aredeserving and be okay with not sharingthe spotlight. Your goal shouldn’t be tobe the headline.”Lake understands that as a disciplinedprofession, the industry is in very earlystages. Her expectations -- and herleadership’s -- are therefore measured. “Idon’t want to build a sustainability empire.That’s not what the company needs. Thecompany needs sustainability integratedwith every function and championsin every corner. For that to happen,sometimes you have to step back andtake one for the team,” she says.“Your ability to connect your workand initiatives with the success of thecompany is critical. That means youhave to go beyond the ‘what’ into the‘why’ of your actions. That takes a gooddeal of courage, belief, confidence andthe ability to take risks. To lead, youhave to be the one to take the first step,”she advises.And that’s the kind of people she prefersto hire. “Ambiguity is a really helpful traitin this discipline.”CSO Back Story12Weinreb Group
Corporate Governance And Strategy:Where Does The CSO Fit?A Seat at the ExecutiveTableA necessary precursor to leadingcompany-wide cultural change istrue commitment from the top. Whilethe role of a Chief SustainabilityOfficer has continued to evolve, LindaFisher’s appointment in 2004 set offset off a consistent promotion of thesustainability profession as a whole. Inrole and responsibilities for sustainabilityexecutives as shown in the chart below.987654321Number of CSO’sAppointed By Year0 2004 2006 2007 2008 2009 20102011‘H1Companies have had environmentalmanagers and compliance officers doinga variety of functions for a long time, butnow, due to several colluding factorsand an urgency in the marketplace,sustainability is finally rising to the topechelon of leadership.With these C-suite executives all reportingone to two steps away from the CEO,their executive powers today are on parwith the other functional heads of theorganization, i.e., finance, technology,information and operation, indicating thatsustainability as a business imperativeis finally becoming an integral part oforganizational strategy. By investingin and appointing executive-levelsustainability chiefs, these companiesare committing themselves to pursuing along term sustainability strategy.Succession Planning: TheCSO is Here to StaySuccession planning is a significantexercise for members of the C-suite toensure that these main functional areasare never without an executive in charge.Succession planning signifies the criticalnature of these roles, and in recent yearsit has become an imperative to maintaina trained line of executives who cantake on the leadership role as and whenneeded.This research reveals that the officeof the CSO is not much different.With the relatively recent arrival of thesustainability chief to the C-suite, ourresearch identified only one successionstory. That of Diane Holdorf at Kellogg.Holdorf, formerly VP of EnvironmentalStewardship, succeeded Celeste Clarkwho is set to retire later this year.When succession planning becomes derigueur for the CSO, sustainability hastruly become a company priority.Sustainability is finallyrising to the topechelon of leadership.CSO Back Story13 Weinreb Group
Page 1 and 2: Weinreb Group presentsCSO BACK STOR
Page 3 and 4: Foreword ByEllen WeinrebCEO, Weinre
Page 5 and 6: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:TOP 10 FINDINGS &
Page 7 and 8: THE FIRST CSOThe title, Chief Susta
Page 9 and 10: Peter Graf, SAP:Business Veteran, S
Page 11: Candidacy: what makes a cso?CSO: In
Page 15 and 16: Scott Wicker, UPS:Engineer, Company
Page 17 and 18: ORGANIZATIONAL Structure:The Nuts A
Page 19 and 20: Makings Of A Successful CSOWhat mak
Page 21 and 22: Makings Of A Successful CSOmultimil
Page 23 and 24: Best Practices: The CSOBest Practic
Page 25 and 26: RANKINGS VS. TITLE: IS GREEN THE RI
Page 27 and 28: Call To Action: Sustainability Mana
Page 29 and 30: ACKNOWLEDGMENTSWe owe many thanks t
Page 31: About Weinreb GroupWeinreb Group is

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