Coaching for sustainability

How is your organisation addressing the sustainability challenge?

Leading organisations are increasingly focusing on transformational and systemic change, rather than short term, incremental improvements. This link between transformation, and the shift to new levels of individual and organisational leadership and development, highlights the critical role of coaching for innovation, sustainability and heightened business performance.

Click on the links below to see how coaching is helping committed organisations to move towards sustainability and how it may help your organisation too.

The first case study from Article 13’s latest research on the role of coaching towards sustainability explores three findings that describe how coaching can be effective in turning internal barriers into opportunities. What we show in this case study is, with all other external factors being equal, the capability, culture and leadership development of individuals and teams in the organisations can be the difference to an organisation’s integration of sustainability, and competitive advantage. Organisations at the leading edge are embracing the opportunity to drive innovation through shifting their culture, and the values and mindsets of employees. Those that are still focused on technical fixes and policies are missing an opportunity to leap ahead of their competition. Here we also identify many means and benefits of using coaching to appropriately facilitate these transformational shifts in different organisational contexts.

The second case study to emerge from Article 13’s latest research on the role of coaching towards sustainability looks at how coaching can support a sustainable culture. Leading organisations are increasingly aware that internal, invisible barriers to sustainability and innovation, such as the cultural values and habits within organisations, are more significant than the visible, technical barriers. Coaching is one of the most effective means to shift the culture of an organisation, and to overcome the barriers to a positive, innovative, high-performance culture. Here, we looked briefly at four specific ways in which coaching and cultural focus can generate positive change.

Coaching as the Swiss Army knife of sustainable development?
The third case study identified a set of more than a dozen characteristics that distinguish different forms of coaching. These include whether the focus of the coaching is a specific purpose, or open; whether the coaching is done by an internal or external coach; if it is formal or informal; and if it is one-on-one or done in a group. The case study details five descriptions of different forms of coaching that combine different characteristics, and can be appropriate for different aspects of integrating sustainability in organisations.

The fourth case study investigates the use of team or group coaching to integrate sustainability in organisations. While one-on-one coaching has its place, there is great power in a wider collective exploration of challenges that starts to create new norms and cultures in the process. The case study lists examples of group coaching, including breakfast clubs and eco-teams, and considers the role of the 'coach' and the need for those involved to gain consensus on groundrules and approaches to be taken.

Our research revealed the pivotal role of individuals in contributing to integration of sustainability in organisations. Coaching was seen to be a critical mechanism for developing these individuals' capabilities. In many examples uncovered by our sustainability and coaching research, we found that individuals were being coached based on being self-identified sustainability champions. Occasionally, we found examples where environmental or community involvement champions were actively recruited for and coach-mentored to be more effective in their role.

In addition to reflecting on their values and connection to the issues in a way that supports transformation, individuals involved in sustainability also need new knowledge to build cross-sectoral partnerships with civil society organisations, and new skills in areas such as carbon management. Here we briefly explore the role of coaching for the latter purpose.

While development of individuals may not be the ultimate outcome of coaching for sustainability, individuals are the most fundamental unit comprising an organisation, and all change and transformation must engage them in the process. However, often leadership is lacking, with two-thirds of organisations reporting a shortage of effective leaders.

The increasing relevance of sustainability challenges in organisations is a compelling driver for developing teams that can lead organisations to improved triple bottom line performance. It is the link between collective transformation and collaborative leadership, and the capability of organisations to innovate and take steps towards sustainability that highlights the role that coaching can play in team, organisational and sustainable development.

Coaching which focuses on the impact on the collective, collaboration and on the reality of our interdependence is aligned with sustainability, a shift from the traditional mode of coaching which sees individuals as the primary beneficiary. Team coaching, whole-of-business coaching and hosting communities are practical examples of how this approach can be applied.

Our research demonstrated that companies thrive when their strategies focus on transformational and systemic changes, rather than incremental ones. Coaching is increasingly being recognised as a critical tool to enhance individual leadership and enable increased capacity to navigate the complexities of sustainable business practice.