We are too nice.

Yes, us, people who are passionate about sustainability, in our spotless fleeces, our well scrubbed faces and neatly trimmed beards. All those good intentions, warm inclusiveness and incredible politeness.

But, frankly, do we have the cojones to do sustainability properly?

I get frustrated when I get involved in debates with fellow practitioners and they say things like “we don’t want sustainability to be seen as a dictat from above…”

What?! Why on earth would you not want sustainability to be seen as a priority of senior management? There’s almost a fear of rocking the boat when, for 99.99% of organisations, the boat needs some serious rocking.

So, are you prepared to face up to the following necessities:

• Getting rid of managers who resist the sustainability programme?
• Summarily dropping suppliers who are not doing sustainability properly as a clear message to the rest of the supply chain?
• Killing off profitable product lines which are incompatible with sustainability targets?
• Setting seriously ambitious stretch targets to jolt the organisation out of business as usual?
• Holding people in positions of power to account for the sustainability performance of their empire?

These may be uncomfortable positions to take, but they are the things that set the leading organisations apart from the rest – and let’s face it, they’re standard behaviour for organisations trying to improve their economic performance, and is sustainability not just as important?

So, let’s not kid ourselves, this is not a hold-hands-around-the-campfire love in. Sustainability is serious business.