Sustainability Leadership

As CEOs and business leaders navigate a world of complex global challenges, sustainability is no longer optional but a business imperative. In this book, two sustainability leaders with decades of experience – Henrik Henriksson, CEO of Scania and Elaine Weidman Grunewald, Co-founder of the AI Sustainability Center, and former Chief Sustainability & Public Affairs Officer at Ericsson – offer a simple but powerful three-step model for leading an organization on a sustainability transformation journey that aims at big, audacious, world-changing goals.

Honest about the dilemmas but bullish on the opportunities, the authors advise leaders on how to accelerate sustainability in their organizations told through a Swedish lens, where the country’s values and culture permeate the boardroom and the C-suite, bringing a unique clarity and conviction to leading with integrity.

In practical insights gleaned from the authors’ own experience, the book takes leaders through the three phases of sustainability leadership: from establishing a solid foundation rooted in purpose, culture, values, principles and consistent, credible leadership, to integrating sustainability into the core business, and then to executing a vision that not only shifts the direction of the company but can change an entire industry, and even the world.

Throughout the book, more than 25 interviews with other leading CEOs of Swedish companies as well as successful start-ups, investors, economists, and other experts illuminate the path to sustainability leadership from different perspectives. These are complemented by case studies describing how companies got it right – or turned themselves around after getting it very, very wrong.

With this hands-on insiders’ guide, CEOs and C-suite leaders can take sustainability to the next level. This is the encouragement and inspiration business leaders need to move past incremental improvement at a time when exponential, world-changing action ismore urgent than ever.

“In today’s uncertain times, the examples of how Swedish business leaders have weathered turbulent times, re-defined their businesses and sought new ways to amplify value for all stakeholders is a precious and timely source of inspiration.” (Lim Boon Heng, Chairman, Temasek)

“Henrik Henriksson and Elaine Weidman Grunewald have issued a stirring call to action that cannot be ignored. The authors provide a roadmap for how companies can define their purpose and live by it—something we need more than ever in these challenging times. The candid stories of how Swedish CEOs have risen to those challenges is inspiring. I urge every business leader to read this book and share it widely among their teams.” (N. Chandrasekaran, Chairman, Tata Sons)

“Not only do Grunewald and Henriksson demonstrate how sustainability ambitions must be realized through business action, they also show how such business action can be achieved and provide a plan of action for sustainability leadership through concrete and inspirational cases from the Nordics.” (Kristin Skogen Lund, CEO, Schibsted)

“This book is a treasure chest: It reveals the secrets behind Sweden’s success and how corporations can thrive on sustainability while being part of the solution for the big challenges of our time.” (Georg Kell, Founder, UN Global Compact and Chairman, Arabesque)

 “Sweden is a powerhouse of sustainable industrial transformation. This book describes the management approach behind it. Henrik Henriksson and Elaine Weidman Grunewald invite change- makers in Swedish business to tell their stories. And they tell their own story, not least about Scania, a company that shows how sustainability and profitability can go together. The core message: Global challenges like the climate crisis require clear entrepreneurial values: integrity, responsibility, effectiveness. We have no time to lose!” (Herbert Diess, Chairman of the Board of Management, Volkswagen AG)

“In this valuable book, Elaine Weidman Grunewald and Henrik Henriksson provide an easy to read, inspiring and practical guide to sustainability leadership.  The examples are compelling and show that sustainability is an integral part of the strategy of profitable, successful businesses – and will be even more so going forward.” (Stephanie O’Keefe, CEO, International Women’s Forum)

“Sweden has offered the world so many valuable lessons over the years; and this excellent book is the latest contribution - timely and valuable business insight explained with clarity and humility. It reminds us that purposeful leadership is both essential in today’s highly unpredictable, challenging business environment and must be approached with energy, method and expansive imagination. It should be read by every leader who wishes to eschew incrementalism and confront the most pressing of contemporary questions, namely, how to deliver a step-change in sustainable growth, balancing the interests of all stakeholders without trade off, compromise or delay.” (Rick Haythornthwaite, Chairman, Mastercard and Xynteo)

“Nordic countries and companies are globally recognized for their sustainability leadership.  In their informative new book, Elaine Weidman Grunewald and Henrik Henriksson reveal “the secret sauce” that gives Swedish companies their inherent sustainability advantage. In translating to a global business audience, they offer a powerful three-step leadership model that any CEO or business leader can put in practice wherever they may find themselves in the world. This book provides definitive thinking on sustainability leadership for the twenty-first century—all with a wonderfully distinctive Swedish twist.” (Robert Strand, Executive Director & Lecturer, Center for Responsible Business, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley, USA)

Henrik Henriksson is President and CEO of Scania, a leading supplier of solutions and services for sustainable transport that is driving the shift towards a fossil-free transport system for heavy commercial vehicles. A fierce advocacy for sustainability, Henrik is an advisor to the Swedish government and part of its Agenda 2030 delegation.

 

Elaine Weidman Grunewald is a co-founder of the AI Sustainability Center, a world-leading center for assessing the societal implications of AI and data-driven technologies. An expert on global sustainability and development issues, Elaine has spent over two decades in the private sector focusing on digitalization and sustainable development, where she pioneered the tech for good movement.