CSO BACK STORY - Weinreb Group

Call To Action: Sustainability ManagersDespite all the work ahead fororganizations and sustainability, noteverything can be left up to the amorphouscorporate mindset. Much of the credit --and the blame -- goes to individuals whowork in sustainability or call themselvessustainability professionals. It is crucialfor you to understand that the elevationof the profession is your responsibility.As the CSO profiles indicate, a lot ofroadwork went into the creation of a chiefsustainability officer role. They createdstakeholder plans, showed financial data,created frameworks that showed marketcompetition as well as shareholder value,and much more. But once created, all theorganizations without exception have feltthe advantage and benefits of the role,with several revising their governancestructure around the role.Ellen Weinreb concludes “Only 29companies among the roughly 7,000publicly traded companies [listed on theNYSE or NASDAQ] in the U.S. haveinstituted Chief Sustainability Officers.That’s a huge opportunity for sustainabilityprofessionals.” Use this report and thesuccesses noted in these pages to makeyour case. Don’t use the CSO term lightly,ensure that the senior leadership teamunderstands the authority and leverageassociated with the role.Remember, a CSO is:• A company/industry veteran;• The top strategic executive in charge ofsustainability;• Does not have a clearly defined careerpath but requires s set of skills detailedin this report: Industry experience,solid understanding of social andenvironmental issues, experience atsuccessfully creating internal programsaround core business competencies,and has the foresight to turn externalchallenges into opportunities;• Not a direct MBA graduate.Don’t stop there. Question yourorganization’s reporting structure. Whodo you report to? Why? What couldbe improved upon? Can the structurebe modified in a way that sustainabilitytruly becomes a cross functionalresponsibility?Engage your internal stakeholders,leverage your external network andidentify much like Winkler, Graf, Wicker,Lake, Fisher and the others did, the realopportunity for your organization to gaincompetitive value and a sustainable longterm business plan.“Only 29 companiesamong the roughly 7,000publicly traded companiesin the U.S. have institutedChief Sustainability Officers.That’s a huge opportunity forsustainability professionals.”-Ellen WeinrebCSO Back Story27 Weinreb Group