Melissa Owen

This! Interdisciplinarity is the key to tackling these multi-dimensional problems. In my plant auditing days, I was blessed to learn from a master auditor that visited all the factories in the world for his company - and although they all had the same issues, he found soultions in one place that he would share with another. Be the "assembler" for your company - introduce folks in logistics to folks in sustainability - has your facilities team met the ESG legal team? Maybe create "hackathons" where you create teams with a rep from each department to tackle a company sustainability challenge with dedicated time and even some fun prizes. Lowering heating and cooling costs (and carbon footprint) - what did the different teams come up with?

This! All day, this! Mentorship in sustainability is so lacking. ESG is considered a "new" field - so if you have a career in it, you are a unique entity. Young professionals are clamoring for guidance and mentorship. LinkedIn has been a wonderful place for sustainability and environmental professionals to contact me with questions on my career in the "E" of ESG. Post often on LinkedIn about your experience, fire up a TikTok channel with your stories and insights, create an Instagram channel on sustainability careers for new grads. The world is in need of your sage input.

As I tell clients, make it make sense - dollars and cents. Many of the "sustainable" things to do are also cost-savings - and just good business practice. For companies new to the idea, rope in the facilities team and talk about better insulation, lower cooling and heating bills, more efficient HVAC systems, lower energy bills overall, low flow toilets, grey water reuse for watering the grounds. While climate change and carbon footprint reduction are served by the changes, they are also money savers that even ESG critics can get behind.

And remember - you are doing this for now, but not always. If you are taking on one of the new sustainability educational or certification courses, maybe understanding that it actually is a stretch goal. This new undertaking might actually be hard in the short term - but the rewards will outlast the growing pains. You are opting to take on a fuller plate now for a long term benefit as you uplevel ESG skills and possibly even pivot in your career. This challenging time of work and study will not last forever. And when you have gotten through this challenge, you will not only be better prepared for new sustainability roles - but you will have developed more grit in the process.

Make it make sense -- dollars and sense. Sustainability decisions may not bring profit in this quarter - but investments in many of more sustainable options can make economic sense over the longer term. Sell that to each department so they can see how these decisions make sense for their specific team strategy and bottom line. For example, show the facilities team how cutting electricity costs by installing better insulation lower their monthly bills. Show the HR team that aligning with sustainability brings in younger candidates looking to align work and values - getting them the best top talent. Show and tell.

It doesn't help much to be working for a sustainable planet - without a sustainable work life. As a solopreneur of many years, I didn't always get this. Think of the ESG of your own life - What is your work and personal environment? How much are you supported socially? What governance systems are in place to make sure you take care of yourself? These are my personal life "ESG" metrics. It has taken practice to realize I need to practice sustainability of the soul - making sure that I rest, eat, stay connected to social circles, and take time for internal governance meetings through meditation and other contemplative work. Our inner environment is connected to our outer environment - and working on the one requires work on the other.