The previous article looked at the problems with sustainability that large financial institutions have because of their very short-term focus. Yet even with a longer-term view, how do you create a sustainable organization?

The Baldrige Criteria ask that question in the first Item in the Leadership Category. It’s a question that has perplexed leaders for as long as organizations have been around.

A number of books including Built to Last and Good to Great have explored this issue. A new book comes at it from a “greener” perspective: Strategy for Sustainability: A Business Manifesto by Adam Werbach.

Werbach was the Sierra Club’s youngest president in 1996 at the age of 23. His work with Wal-Mart on sustainability made him a controversial figure among environmentalists.

Werbach believes that true sustainability has four equal parts:

• Social: Organizations must help address poverty, violence, injustice, education, public health, labor and human rights, and other social issues
• Economic: Organizations must help meet the needs of people (i.e., securing food, water, and shelter) and businesses (making a profit)
• Environmental: Organizations must protect and restore the Earth through such efforts as controlling climate change, preserving natural resources, and preventing waste
• Cultural: Organizations must protect and value diversity and traditions

As Werbach concludes in his book, “The crisis we face now is our chance–your chance–to build a strategy for sustainability into the core of your company and your life. Such a strategy is a necessity, not an idealistic illusion.”

You can watch Werbach talk about sustainability at McKinsey & Company’s Web site.

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