The Green Executive - A synopsis
At the heart of The Green Executive is the Terra Infirma Sustainability Maturity Model (above), described by one blogger as "almost perfect in form and content.
" The premise is that cutting edge businesses are making the leap from seeing 'green' as an issue to be managed (Management Systems level) to seeing it as a strategic priority pervading all the company's operations (Full Integration). This means aligning all processes, products, services, operations and management systems to sustainability. This leap cannot be made by management alone, but requires strategic leadership and, by implication, a new breed of Green Executives.
The book is structured into four parts to cover the four key elements of making this transition:
1. Understanding the business case
Before you can develop a strategy, you've got to understand what the business case for sustainability means to your business. In part 1, we cover the risk of doing nothing, the business case for action, the moral case for action and the risks of pursuing a green path. One of the key points is "Go Green, Save Money" is for amateurs - the real business benefit is in growing your top line and you should formulate your strategy to suit.
2. Understanding sustainability
The three chapters in part 2 cover broad environmental issues, models of sustainability and models of a sustainable economy. By getting your head around the big global problems and potential solutions at a macro level, you can take an informed strategic approach to changing your business at the micro-economic level.
3. Practical action
Part 3 covers the practical steps businesses must take to address these sustainability requirements, but expressed in strategic terms. So, to take an example, greening the product portfolio is not just about making new products greener, but the complementary need to kill off 'ungreen' products.
4. Making It Happen
The final section looks at what changes are required in the organisation to deliver these practical solutions. After discussing the sustainability maturity model (see free download of Chapter 14 below), four chapters cover leadership, strategy, stakeholder engagement and putting the right management structures and systems in place.
The View from the Front Line
One thing really bothered me when I was starting to write this book - most green business books use the same old case studies over and over again. These war stories were improving in the telling and gave no flavour of the challenges involved. I wanted fresh case studies, with a strategic perspective but the intimacy of a personal view. So I interviewed 18 people who I believe fulfil the role of Green Executive in a wide range of businesses in terms of size and sector. So I spoke to senior staff from Marks & Spencer, Canon, GSK, BT and P&G, but also from smaller companies you may not have heard of such as Gentoo, EAE Ltd and Muckle LLP, and wrote them up as interludes between each of the 18 chapters. The result was amazing - people really opened up to me and gave me the real story behind their successes and failures - in fact what they told me permeated the rest of the book. The
interviews are worth the cover price alone - check out the free sample below.
 Special Reader Offer
Subscribers to The Low Carbon Agenda can get 20% off the cover price of The Green Executive by clicking on this link and entering the code AF20.
Green Executive Goodies
Here are a few gifts from me to you to celebrate the publication of the book:
1. Free Download: Green Executive Introduction
2. Free Download: Green Executive Chapter 14
3. Free Download: Interview with James Hagan, GlaxoSmithKline
4. Exclusive: The Green Executive 3 Minute Audit - see how your organisation measures up against the Green Executive with this simple self-audit.
Book Launch Events
I am holding two special events to mark the publication of The Green Executive:
In person: On 14 June 2011, I'll be giving a talk to formally launch the book at Newcastle University Business School's Business of Sustainability Week. It's at 17:00 for a 17:30 start with drinks and networking at 18:30. E-mail me to register.
Online: I'll be holding two free webcasts entitled "The 7 Habits of Successful Green Business Leaders" on the publication day itself, Friday 20 May 2011 at 11am and 2pm. Drop us a line to tell us which session you would like to attend.
Low Carbon News
Just one item this month, but it's a biggie:
While everyone was focussed on The Wedding at the end of April, a very important statement slipped out under the radar. Fatih Birol, chief economist at the International Energy Agency pronounced that the date that 'Peak Oil' would occur was... 2006. Yes, after years of denial and obfuscation we've found out that the peak (when production maximises and starts to decline) was actually 5 years ago. Sorry folks, cheap oil is a thing of the past.
Green Executive Quotes
Some nice things that people have said about the book:
‘The Green Executive’ is the best book I’ve read that captures an incredibly complex theme and expertly balances all the elements for a mainstream business audience. If your business isn’t proactively exploring sustainability you need this book before your competitor buys it.
David Connor, Managing Director, Coethica
If you want to become a green business leader, this book is essential reading. Gareth Kane makes the business case most persuasively. This is a brilliant book full of practical advice showing the benefits of thinking beyond mere compliance.
Lord Shipley of Gosforth, OBE
Not only does The Green Executive inspire with its wide vision and grounded optimism: it also gives welcome “first aid” to the nervous and sceptical, by honestly addressing the risks to green businesses, and exemplifying every principle it expounds with real-life examples from the front-line.
Professor Paul L Younger FREng, DL, Director, Newcastle Institute for Research on Sustainability, UK.
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