11.16.2010

EHS, Sustainability, and CSR Professionals as Transformative 3rd-Generation Leaders

At the Pegasus Conference 2010: Systems Thinking in Action, held last week in Boston, several pioneers—including Daniel Kim, Robert Fritz, and Peter Senge—presented nuggets of wisdom for EHS, Sustainability, and CSR professionals. I’ve shared a few of them below.

Daniel Kim discussed what he calls “The 3rd-Generation Leadership Challenge.” Speaking generally about two eras—the industrial revolution era and the current “knowledge and learning” era—he characterized the evolution of leadership as having two generations in the industrial revolution (Pioneer- and Manager-Leaders) and four leadership options in the current era (which he refers to as 3rd-Generation Leadership: Parasite-, Operator-, Stagnant-, Learning/Transformative-Leaders). Read More

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2.4.2010

Creating a New Story

In their presentation at the 18th Annual Pegasus Conference, Peter Senge and Betty Sue Flowers spoke about leadership and the role that story and myth play in guiding leaders. Leadership, they argued, is about the future—the story that is created and communicated.

Oftentimes, leaders don’t think that they can alter the story. Senge and Flowers, however, disagree. At every moment, they said, we have the power to create a new story. In fact, the ability to do this is an essential leadership trait. They suggested that one way to create a compelling storyline is to develop plots based on a “purpose to learn,” as opposed to “victim-based” plots. Read More

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1.14.2010

A New Dawn for EHS Professionals

Many indicators point to a shift in EHS drivers and thinking. Redinger EHS outlines a few below.

End of the Oil Economy

At the American Industrial Hygiene Conference and Exposition (AIHCE) in Minneapolis, economist and futurist Jeremy Rifkin explained that we are in the twilight of the oil economy, yet have not fully grasped its ramifications, or how it will affect communities and organizations. He spoke about a “third revolution”: radical, new ways of thinking about energy are needed, he argued, based on four pillars—generation, distribution, storage, and communication. He challenged EHS professionals to develop skills to succeed in this new era, skills that are above and beyond core technical skills.

New EHS Drivers

At the NAEM EHS Management Forum in Memphis, “Managing the Green,” keynote speaker Ron Hart, formally with the EPA, suggested that EHS professionals are “asleep at the wheel,” unaware of the fact that a new era of EHS is here. “We are now in an era where EHS has real stakeholder value,” he said. A whole new set of drivers (e.g., climate, population, interconnectivity, emerging economic powers, etc.) is transforming the EHS role in organizations. Read More

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