Role of Leadership in Sustainable Business Growth

The business world is undergoing a massive transformation with the global pandemic in the backdrop, coupled with climate change. Business leaders are introspecting on the evolution of the crisis and are channelizing their intelligence and effort to build sustainable, fair, and resilient economies and social systems.

This new benchmark for business leaders (mostly CEOs) is encouraging them to introspect what led to the crisis and the active roles that they can play to find a solution. They are increasingly operating with the environment, long-term sustainable development, and welfare of the society in mind while keeping a laser-sharp focus on financial performance. The outcome requires a well-orchestrated effort between corporate, government, and society. The focus is on the “Triple P” Planet, Profit, and People.

Sustainable Leadership

Sustainable leadership is integral to future competitiveness and dependent on forward-thinking strategies. Organizations, post-pandemic, no longer have an option to rebound to the “Old Normal.” It is now imperative for leaders to re-imagine their long-term purpose-led, value creation strategies. The starting point to this is a deep realization that the “New-Normal” is here and will constantly evolve with change with economic, social, and climate evolutions.

During these times, business leaders are focused on building a new value chain, expanding into new market segments, creating a new market with evolving needs, and changing the way they compete in the new market.

Key Areas of Focus for Leadership to Ensure Sustainable Business Growth 

• Building an ambidextrous operating model to adapt to turbulent as well as steady growth stages.
• Seeking opportunity in turbulent times by strategizing on new market and portfolio approaches.
• Innovative leadership focused on employee empathy and raising heightened global awareness.
• Understanding impact of future mega-trends on evolving business model that appeals to the market of tomorrow.
• Leaders not only harness creative participation but also lead people to embrace chaos, uncertainty, and constant evolution.
• Redefining corporate culture to meet the current and future organization and market demands.
• Future-based resourcing based on new skill requirements and ways of working to ensure the right capability building.
• Leveraging technology to create a compelling market-ready strategy.
• Focus on increasing diversity to improve sustainable decision-making.
• Heightened focus on corporate governance framework.
• Strengthen project and change management capabilities.
• Purposeful communication and timely reporting.
• Invest in Leadership performance training.
• Industry network to decode common market pitfalls.
• Invest in embedding concepts of sustainability in undergraduate and MBA curriculum to get future-ready resources that are employable.
• Engage employees in the organization’s sustainability journey.

Sustainable leadership nurtures sustainable performance. They are key change agents that balance short-term priorities as well as the long-term organizational need for evolution. It requires collective leadership that creates a mindset shift and social influence to translate vision into reality.

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