The Charms and Challenges of Leading Sustainability - with Anthony Watanabe

In this episode, we interview Anthony Watanabe, Chief Sustainability Officer of Indorama Ventures, a 20-billion dollar chemical company with 140 manufacturing sites worldwide and 26,000 employees. Anthony shares his experience of leading sustainable transformation at scale, and as we will see, there are both charms & challenges to the job.Key moments[05:00] How Anthony “wonderfully accidentally” discovered sustainability and started his 20+ year career in the field.[10:00] Charms and challenges of leading sustainability. Including the “mainstreaming” of sustainable transformation and the increasing demands on transparency, reporting and disclosure.[14:20] Leading sustainability in your daily role. The importance of starting with yourself as a leader and how well you are aligned and show up authentic. Continuing with leading through influence in the role of the CSO.[20:03] What leaders can do to drive sustainability in their organisations. Sustainability needs all of us. It needs everybody's talents around the table because it’s complex, because it’s a systems approach.[27:05] Balancing the visible with the meaningful. Using both narrative and stories and data to balance communication on visible (easy to communicate) actions with meaningful (impactful) actions. Only stories without quantifiable information is not a recipe for success. Linking into sustainable reporting.[31:45] The dilemma of continued consumption and growth AND  sustainability. Sharing examples of net positive impact and importance of circular economy.[38:06] What drives sustainability to be “mainstream” on the corporate agenda? Examples are requirements of investors that are making ESG a priority, trends in technology around, e.g. renewable energy, electric vehicles, and social movements that bring diversity, equity and inclusion to the forefront. Reflection Questions: How do I connect my personal values and beliefs to the mission of sustainable change? How does this connection help my motivation? How does it guide me? How does it help me to stay authentic as a leader?What can be new business models that look not only at financial performance? How can I use the collective intelligence of the people I work with? And who can be my guiding coalition to drive this?What could I do that is a meaningful contribution? Is there something with larger leverage based on my network, my skills, or access that could contribute to solutions for climate change?---------------------More info about us and our work is also on our website: secondcrackleadership.com. Do you have any questions, feedback, or suggestions for us? Would you like to explore how we can help you to drive results in your organisations through a company-wide initiative or individual executive coaching? Then email us at hello@secondcrackleadership.com. To connect with us on LinkedIn: Martin Aldergård Gerrit Pelzer