Table Of ContentAll In
Written by three leading thinkers in the fi eld of sustainability, All In defi nes
the essential attributes of high-impact corporate sustainability leadership
and describes how companies can combine and apply those characteristics
for future success.
All In draws on research involving thousands of experts globally as
collected via the GlobeScan-SustainAbility Leaders Survey over two decades.
The book also reveals insights from dozens of interviews with Chairs, CEOs
and Chief Sustainability Offi cers of pioneering companies, including 3M,
BASF, BP, DuPont, Google, GE, Huawei, IKEA, Interface, Marks & Spencer,
Natura, Nestlé, Nike, Novo Nordisk, Patagonia, Shell, Tata, Toyota, Unilever
and Walmart, explaining how they have gained recognition, created value
and boosted resiliency based on their sustainability leadership. All In also
outlines what the private sector must do to lift sustainability performance,
protect business’s license to operate and help deliver the UN Sustainable
Development Goals by 2030.
This unique book, rich with quantitative and qualitative insights, offers
current and aspiring business leaders a succinct overview of the most important
developments and trends in corporate sustainability leadership. All In will
also appeal to others interested in why sustainability has become a critical
mainstream business issue.
David Grayson is Emeritus Professor of Corporate Responsibility at the
Cranfi eld School of Management. He is also chair of the charity Carers UK.
He is a former Managing Director of Business in the Community.
Chris Coulter is CEO of GlobeScan, an insights and strategy consultancy
focused on helping leadership organizations build trust with their
stakeholders. He also serves on the boards of Good World Solutions and
Canadian Business for Social Responsibility (CBSR).
Mark Lee is Executive Director of SustainAbility, a think tank and consultancy
accelerating corporate sustainability leadership. He chairs the Advisory Board
of Sustainable Brands and sits on the Senior Advisory Board of the Centre for
Responsible Business in the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley.
“A ll In provides very useful insights for management thinking and helps
defi ne what a successful and purposeful business looks like in the future.”
– Dominic Barton, Global Managing Partner of McKinsey & Co
“ All In is required reading for leaders from all disciplines – business, non-
profi ts, academia, government – to better understand the potential and
necessity of an engaged and responsible private sector to create the future
we want.”
– Rt. Hon. Joe Clark, former Prime Minister of Canada
“ All In does an outstanding job mapping best practice in corporate sustain-
ability. While most past leadership examples feature European and North
American companies, the lessons are universal, making the book a perfect
primer for business leaders globally seeking to make sustainability core to
how they manage their company in the future.”
– Clarissa Lins, founder of Catavento Consultoria, Brazil
“ All In provides a critical contribution to why and how business needs to
commit to sustainability at pace and scale in the coming years; this should
be required reading for the next generation of business leaders.”
– Liz Maw, CEO, Net Impact, the global community of
students and professionals who want to become the most
effective change agents they can be
“ All In is an accessible account of the landscape and the activities of van-
guard companies and individuals seeking to embed strategic sustainability
in their organisations. I’d like to think it is not a coincidence that many of
them have participated in a CISL Sustainability Leadership programme over
the past three decades!”
– Dame Polly Courtice DBE, LVO, Director of the University of
Cambridge Institute for Sustainability Leadership (CISL)
“At Unipart Group, we aim to keep abreast of the very latest in management
thinking and practice. All In offers a fascinating perspective for any business
that wants to prosper in the future.”
– Dr John M. Neill CBE, Executive Chairman,
Unipart Group of Companies
“The Asian Institute of Management is committed to helping build Enter-
prises for Society. All In shows businesses just how to be an enterprise for
society and more. The book illustrates global good practices with rigour. It
hits the management sweet-spot!”
– Dr Jikyeong Kang, President and Dean,
Asian Institute of Management, Manila
“I am going ‘All In’ after reading Coulter, Lee & Grayson’s fresh angle on the
challenges of business leadership, seen through a sustainability lens. What
was once an optional corporate endeavour is now core to business strategy
and will defi ne company legacy and impact.”
– Tensie Whelan, Clinical Professor of Business and
Society, Director, Center for Sustainable Business,
Stern School of Business, New York University
“My experience in the Asian Forum for Enterprise in Society and involvement
on a number of corporate boards has shown that many businesses – large
and small, public and private – want to understand and manage the risks and
opportunities of their Social, Environmental and Economic impacts. All In
is packed full with insights, examples and tips for how to do so. I also look
forward to a future edition where I am confi dent there will be even more
Asian examples quoted!”
– Dato Timothy Ong, Chairman, Asia Inc Forum, Brunei
All In
The Future of Business Leadership
David Grayson, Chris Coulter
and Mark Lee
First published 2018
by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
711 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10017
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2018 David Grayson, Chris Coulter, and Mark Lee
The right of David Grayson, Chris Coulter, and Mark Lee to be
identifi ed as authors of this work has been asserted by them in
accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced
or utilized in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other
means, now known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and
recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without
permission in writing from the publishers.
Trademark notice : Product or corporate names may be trademarks
or registered trademarks, and are used only for identifi cation and
explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Grayson, David, author. | Coulter, Chris, 1968– author. |
Lee, Mark, 1969– author.
Title: All in : the future of business leadership / David Grayson,
Chris Coulter, and Mark Lee.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2018. |
Includes index.
Identifi ers: LCCN 2018009403 | ISBN 9781138549234 (hbk) |
ISBN 9781138549227 (pbk)
Subjects: LCSH: Management—Environmental aspects. | Sustainable
development. | Leadership.
Classifi cation: LCC HD30.255 .G7295 2018 | DDC 658.4/092—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018009403
ISBN: 978-1-138-54923-4 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-138-54922-7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-351-00120-5 (ebk)
Typeset in Sabon
by Apex CoVantage, LLC
Contents
List of fi gures ix
Acknowledgements xii
The authors xiv
Foreword xvi
DAN HENDRIX
I ntroduction 1
PART ONE
The evolution of corporate sustainability leadership 11
1 Twenty years of the GlobeScan-SustainAbility
Leaders Survey 13
2 Crossing the threshold to corporate sustainability
leadership 36
PART TWO
Going All In 47
The attributes of corporate sustainability leadership:
introduction 47
3 Purpose 51
4 Plan 65
5 Culture 76
6 Collaboration 90
7 Advocacy 104
8 Unilever: going All In 119
viii Contents
9 Interface: scaling Mount Sustainability 131
10 What businesses should do now to go All In 147
PART THREE
Now for the future 151
11 Individual leadership 153
12 2030 leadership horizon 163
C onclusion 185
Afterword 192
PAUL POLMAN
Appendix: the GlobeScan-SustainAbility Leaders
Survey methodology & historical ranking of leaders 194
Disclosures 198
Index 201
Figures
Part one
Chapter 1
1.1 Trust in Institutions 14
1.2 Expectations vs. Performance for Responsible Business
(2001–2017) 14
1.3 GlobeScan-SustainAbility Leaders Survey:
Methodology 2017 16
1.4 Top Ranked Leaders 1997 vs. 2017 19
1.5 Annual Top Ranked Leaders in Harm Reduction
Era (1997–2005) 21
1.6 Annual Top Ranked Leaders in Strategic Integration
Era (2006–2015) 26
1.7 Drivers of Corporate Leadership (2013–2017) 31
1.8 Annual Top Ranked Leaders in the Purpose-Driven
Era (2016–2017) 32
Chapter 2
2.1 Catalysts for Crossing the Sustainability Leadership
Threshold 36
2.2 Catalysts for Crossing the Sustainability Leadership
Threshold: Case Studies, Part 1 37
2.2 Catalysts for Crossing the Sustainability Leadership
Threshold: Case Studies, Part 2 38
Part two
3.1 All In Leadership Attributes 48
