CSO BACK STORY - Weinreb Group

Best Practices: The CSOBest PracticesTo achieve the greatest levelof influence as a sustainabilityleader, a chief sustainabilityofficer will:• Report to the CEO or be no morethan one degree away;• Be included in the executive leadershipteam with equal input on allstrategic decision making, not justsustainability;• Manage their own team;• Will coordinate with all points of thebusiness despite having a smallteam of direct reports;• Has direct influence vertically (to theCEO) and horizontally (to the entirestaff);• Is a catalyst of change and organizationalbehavior, not necessarily asubject matter expert;• Represents the company externally;• Know the business;• Be respected internally for understandinghow external influenceseffect the business.A significant aim of this research wasto identify best practices that othersustainability managers and leaders canlearn from. With most of the 29 CSOshaving been in their current role for anaverage of two years, what has helpedthem become instrumental contributorsto business strategy?A Leadership RoleScott Wicker was named CSO earlier thisyear after serving as VP of Sustainabilitysince 2007. A skeptic at first, Wickeradmitted that he did not care for thetitle or anticipate the immense authorityit would bring. That is, until he becameCSO.“The results internally have beenmagnificent. People react differently. Ididn’t really care for the title but othersinsisted that it was much-needed and theright next step for UPS,” he says.Today, Wicker is in charge of “everythingsustainability at UPS.” Not only didhis responsibilities change to a moreoverarching role with multiple dimensions,the chief role also helps him effectivelylead strategy that the director or VP levelfails to accord.Kathrin Winkler had similar remarks: “Therole was announced as a recognition ofa multitude of things that were going onwithin the company that were not beingdealt with holistically. Becoming a CSOdidn’t change my job level [from VP],although I was promoted soon thereafter,but it was a big step in terms of visibilityand access.”And that’s crucial in truly embeddingsustainability in a complex organization.“Becoming a CSOwas a big step in terms ofvisibility and access”-Kathrin WinklerCSO Back Story23 Weinreb Group