Per the author of this article, who LinkedIn ranks as one of the top five business influencers in the world, the below five common mistakes frequently precede failure or disaster for a company:
- Failing to make sustainability a core element of your strategy
– ie, continuing to think of sustainability as a cost rather than a driver of success.
- Greenwashing
– ie, per mandates and regulations, this would be any sustainability claim not certified and 3rd party verified under a globally accepted program.
- Overlooking sustainability along the supply chain
– ie, becoming certified sustainable in your own company is not enough. Your supply chain needs to be on board also.
- Failing to effectively use ESG data
– ie, if your actions are not 3rd party verified, you can’t talk about them, or you are greenwashing. If your actions are not measurable, there is no need to do them, as you won’t know what value they are delivering.
- Taking your eye off the ball
– ie, think long-term, not short-term. Politicians and economic cycles are here today, gone tomorrow. Mother Earth thinks in cycles of millions of years. Taking your eye off the ball today could lead to serious challenges in the future, as resources become scarcer and market demand grows.
We appreciate the above, however, we would insert these three ahead of the above five:
- Apathy
– ie, simply not caring will progressively become harder in business and life.
- Believing the protection of your children and their children is the responsibility of others
– ie, this is your job. There is no White Knight coming to clean up your mess.
- Believing the environmental warnings are false
– ie, we would all love to believe things are fine. But you know better.