CSO BACK STORY - Weinreb Group

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Makings Of A Successful CSOCourage And The Ability toTake Risks:When you are a senior sustainabilityexecutive, it’s often taken for granted thatyou grew through the ranks with specialtyand expertise on your side. While thatmight be true for more functional roles,a Chief Sustainability Officer’s path isanything but straightforward. In fact, allthe CSOs we interviewed went to greatlengths to emphasize that their field takesa ton of gumption and steel.“You have to be able to take risks andrecognize that you don’t know all theanswers. You must be willing to borrow,ask for advice and be equally willing toadmit that you guessed wrong,” advisesWinkler.Edwin Pinero, CSO of Veolia WaterNorth America, adds: “Be cognizantof business drivers and organizationalstrategy. Realize that sustainability has tobe integrated into the company’s DNA.”For both Winkler and Lake, genderpresented subtle and not-so-subtlechallenges as well. While Winkler admittedthat the pressure to succeed is muchgreater for women, she emphasized thatgender had never slowed her down orbeen a factor in her career decisions. Yet,she did have one piece of advice: “If youare a woman in charge of sustainability,there is a risk of it being perceived as asoft program. You don’t want executivesto think of it as just a feel-good program.Women need to work extra hard to makesustainability a business strategy.”Personal Satisfaction Tied toCompany Progress:You must be happy being the catalyst,say the CSOs. If your purpose is to bethe hero, then this job isn’t for you. AsCharlene Lake remarked, “Attitude ishuge in this field. You cannot do well ifyou’re looking at being in the spotlightyourself.”“Sell the value of your work, not yourself.Most people in the sustainability fieldtake gratification from the role,” advisesWinkler, who says stressing the criticalneed for sustainability is what got her thejob, not personal achievements or value.“My father taught me to recycle and touse everything,” says SAP CSO PeterGraf. His father, a teacher by professionand a technophile by passion, instilled inhim an acute depth of thought and taughthim to question everything. “I appreciatethe value of resources. When SAP madethe decision to invest in a sustainabilitychief and team, it was born from a coremission of tying our corporate missioninto sustainability ‘to make the world runbetter,’” he says.And Graf isn’t alone. AT&T’s Lake,who grew through the ranks at thetelecommunications firm after abachelor’s in journalism and masscommunications, has similar advice: “It’simportant to your own success that yourcompany succeeds.” Instead of personalrecognition, she sought progress forAT&T’s sustainability programs.Resourcefulness:If there is one common denominatorthat underlines all these chiefs’ roles, itis that they run extremely lean functions,often spread across departments andgeographies. Our research, in factreveals that on average a CSO has nomore than four direct reports.“What becomes key to getting thingsimplemented is resourcefulness,knowing how to work the organizationalmatrix to get results,” says CharleneLake. Essentially, the CSO has influencewithout power. While their task is tocatalyze change across organizationswith thousands of employees andCSO Back Story20 Weinreb Group
Makings Of A Successful CSOmultimillion dollar revenue, theirimmediate teams remain small.It clearly takes a mix of really knowinghow the organization works -- afterall, the average CSO has been at theircompany for 16 years -- and a doseof critical thinking. For UPS’ ScottWicker this meant maintaining strongrelationships and really understandingwho the decision makers are. For Winklerand Lake, experience working with leanteams and an anti-hero attitude.In fact, Lake also offered two tipsfor aspiring CSOs and sustainabilityexecutives: “Be generous with praiseand recognize champions across thecompany, as a way to make sustainabilitya part of everyone’s efforts. And keepthe business in the spotlight; make sureeveryone is behind it.”“-CharleneAttitude is hugein this field. You cannotdo well if you’re lookingat being in the spotlightyourself.”LakeCSO Back Story21 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 and 12: Candidacy: what makes a cso?CSO: In
Page 13 and 14: Corporate Governance And Strategy:W
Page 15 and 16: Scott Wicker, UPS:Engineer, Company
Page 17 and 18: ORGANIZATIONAL Structure:The Nuts A
Page 19: Makings Of A Successful CSOWhat mak
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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