Guardian Blog - The role of higher education in creating sustainable leaders

2nd March 2012

This Guardian blog discusses the role of higher education in incorporating the elements of corporate social responsibility into undergraduate core modules to create executive education programmes dedicated to responsible leadership. It argues that the role of future leaders should be to lead, guide and inspire others to a sustainable future.

"Tomorrow's leaders need to see organisations as complete systems and understand how individual actions impact across the board. What role does higher education play in this?

Business issues are rarely simple – if they were, they would have already been solved elsewhere. And there are fewer issues more complex than creating sustainable futures for organisations.

It's easy to point the finger for irresponsible business practices at the door of higher education institutions – after all, they produced the leaders of the 1980s, the era of "greed is good" and no real environmental concern. In contrast, for us, the aim is to produce graduates who understand that they have a responsibility as future leaders within the organisations they will work for, as members of societies, on the collective level, but also as responsible individuals. We aim to cultivate the potential of each individual to be involved and concerned with the wider community.

From incorporating the elements of corporate social responsibility into undergraduate core modules to creating executive education programmes dedicated to responsible leadership, future leaders should be encouraged to think further than their own ambition and to understand how the actions of an individual impact on the whole. It is not their role to micromanage but to lead, guide and inspire others to a sustainable future.

To comprehend this lesson fully, leaders need to see organisations as complete systems. They consist of many parts. How the parts behave affects the performance of the whole because they are all linked and interdependent. The performance of the whole is more than just the sum of the parts. Studying each part individually is counterproductive and presents a very limited view of any issues.

Because of their experience and position, leaders have the authority to change, correct or abandon badly performing systems. It is therefore inefficient for them to act simply as part of the system. They need to have clear vision and the moral courage to accept when the system or process has outlived its usefulness or when it is working against the organisation's mission.

But it is not easy to be an advocate of change. Systems and processes tend to endure, regardless of changing circumstances. Although it is important to stay true to key goals and objectives, urgency often displaces importance, a re-occurring concern of senior leaders. This sin is often compounded by senior leaders who are over-scheduled and unaware of systems thinking, which can provide an invaluable holistic understanding on multiple levels allowing for better decision making

To succeed, responsible leaders need to see both the parts and the bigger picture, ie, what impact their organisation has on the wider environment and what they can do to mitigate negative impacts and manage intended and unintended consequences better.

Business schools have a duty to inspire future responsible leaders who can manage and guide organisations for long-term sustainable success. Teaching has to tackle real world issues, to emphasise ethical and social considerations and to incorporate the continuous assessment process that is typical of systems thinking essential in a volatile, rapidly changing environment.

Sustainability has to be strategic and incorporated into all the operations, decisions and programmes across the whole business. Therefore the role of academics is to educate students of all levels to understand that there is more to creating a sustainable business than recycling, turning off a light switch or donating money to an ecological charity.

Right now, students are in the best position to learn how to become the best responsible and sustainable leaders. The more traditional areas of academic research, such as management and systems thinking, are rightfully influenced by the growing interest in the sustainability and corporate social responsibility agendas.

Academics can develop new theories and co-create cutting edge knowledge with partner profit, non-profit and public organisations, which underpins the aim of inspiring thought-leaders. We aim to challenge our students by encouraging them to develop contacts in the real world through their research projects, encouraging them to apply for placement opportunities in a wide range of organisations, and within lectures by asking them to think through complex case studies on sustainability. The idea is that by providing multiple controlled challenges we will prepare them to become responsible leaders by providing as much experience as possible while inspiring them to think and act responsibly.

Sustainability is not a choice. It is a way of doing business which can no longer be ignored. Systems thinking is not a cure for all ills, nor a panacea to ensure that someone is seeing the whole picture and understanding how to solve all the issues of the day; however, it is a practical approach to developing responsible leaders who can understand the behaviour of whole systems. Until we do, we cannot expect to transform organisations."

Professor Terry Williams is dean of Hull University Business School. The school is holding a series of seminars: Responsible Leadership for a Complex World.