You might not think it, but entrepreneurship and sustainability go hand in hand. With the sustainability movement being so young and penetrating every aspect of business, those working to make it succeed and be…well, sustainable, must have the mindset of an entrepreneur. We are at a point in human history where we need fast and lasting solutions to big problems, and much of that progress will need to be made in the marketplace.
See the big vision
Sustainability professionals – let’s shorten that down and call them ‘sustainers’ from here on out – must have the ability to look at a challenge at hand from one thousand feet up and consider all potential implications and needs, and then be able to move forward and actually get the work done. Whether it’s starting a new net-zero furniture business or trying to establish a corporate responsibility department at a 150 year-old Fortune 500 textile company, the entrepreneurial mindset is essential to understanding how your sustainable product or service fits into the existing landscape so that it can then change it for good.
Looking at Tesla, which certainly has its concerns around sustainability due to a lack of transparency, we see a company that set out to revolutionize the way we drive almost 20 years ago. Now, in part due to their meteoric success and consumer pressure, almost every major car manufacturer is currently manufacturing electric/hybrid vehicles and many have committed to making most, if not all, of their vehicle fleets electric in the coming decades. A big win for the planet overall.
Have thick, regenerating skin – like Wolverine (shoutout to all you Marvel fans out there)
Ninety-eight percent of sustainability initiatives fail and ninety percent of start-ups fail. Any seasoned entrepreneur will tell you that they’ve heard “no” significantly more than they’ve heard “yes,” but they don’t let the negativity discourage them. The same must apply to the world of sustainability, especially when dealing with stakeholders who are set in their ways and particularly resistant to change. Be it colleagues or clients, sustainers will undoubtedly face their share of skepticism. When this happens – it’s best to listen, take notes, be polite and composed, look for valuable insight in their feedback, then adjust the project, solution or product accordingly. Do not give up.
You don’t have to look far to see a large-scale example of this – with COP26 occurring while I write this blog post, it has been announced that financial firms managing $130 trillion have joined the net-zero pledge. While a pledge is certainly a far way’s off from real action, this is still a very large step in the right direction (this was a pipe dream five years ago) especially from the financial community, who has been one of the slowest movers when it comes to sustainable action, due to the false perception by many money managers and analysts that sustainability does not yield positive financial return. Don’t be fooled, these firms did not do this out of the goodness of their hearts, they did it because that is where they see the money – constant and growing pressure from different stakeholder groups undoubtedly pointed them in this direction.
We’re in the midst of the biggest revolution in business ever = you have an opportunity like no other
The two most passionate groups of people that I’ve ever met are entrepreneurs and sustainers. Unlike their counterparts who work in careers that they’ve fallen into for one reason or another, entrepreneurs and sustainers do their work because they are driven and care deeply about what they are trying to accomplish. If you are an up-and-coming sustainer, you will likely come across many distractions as you become more established, which might encourage you to compromise certain aspects of your work to make a couple more dollars in the short-term – don’t fall for it. Stay focused on your long-term vision. Our planet needs determined and focused sustainers to lead us out of this seemingly dark period.
Please reach out if I can be of service to any of you aspiring sustainers reading this and thank you in advance for the awesome sustainability work you will tackle in your careers: gbrigand@depaul.edu.
Go do.
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Contributor Bio
George Brigandi is a sustainability marketer, who loves being deeply involved in the development and launching of innovative products that can benefit a brand’s stakeholders, environmental footprint, and bottom line. Aside from working full-time at Current, he is also the Director of the Master of Science in Sustainable Management program and an Adjunct Professor at DePaul University.