How can you position your executive background to lead the sustainability function in a corporation? See highlights of Hudson Gain's Study of the Role of the Chief Sustainability Officer in Corporations. What are the skills and capabilities of a CSO?

1. Corporate Sustainability at the Top:
How the New Green Economy
Can Propel Your Executive Job Search
Victoria Zelin, Senior Vice President
Hudson Gain Corporation
March 2009
Five Penn Plaza, 23rd Floor, New York, NY 10001 Phone 212.835.1601 www.hudsongain.com
Copyright ©2009 Hudson Gain Corporation

2. Agenda
 Introduction to Hudson Gain
 Hopes for Today
 Context: Definitions of Sustainability
 Sustainability Continuum
 Who are the Leaders of Sustainability?
 Hudson Gain’s Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO)
Study
 Positioning Yourself and Interviewing
 What will You Do?
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3. Founded in 2002, Hudson Gain
Corporation believes that the work of
corporate leaders is to make their
organizations sustainable from the
perspective of the triple bottom line:
People, Profit, Planet.
Hudson Gain focuses on the People part
of the equation: helping management
“build or buy” their leadership talent. As
a leadership solutions firm, we serve the
talent acquisition, talent development and
change management needs of client
companies of all sizes and industries.
Among Hudson Gain’s leadership
solutions are helping companies hire or
appoint Chief Sustainability Officers and
building employee engagement for
Sustainability.
Copyright ©2009 Hudson Gain Corporation
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4. Hopes
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5. The Context: Definitions of Sustainability
 “Meeting the needs of
the present without
compromising the ability
People Planet
of future generations to sustainable employee sustainable resources
and customer base and operating environment
meet their own needs.”
Brundtland Commission
(1987)
Profits
sustainable business
increased present value
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6. Sustainability Continuum
Denial Organizational Level Leading Edge
Reactive Individual Level Activist
How will you position
your job search in the current market?
Copyright ©2009 Hudson Gain Corporation

7. Who are the Leaders of Sustainability?
 Can oversee Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR),
Community, Environmental
 Some CEOs are CSOs for their organizations
 Sustainability roles should grow
 Employees and Customers want Green
 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act 2009
 “Cap and trade”/tighter legislation
 Roles can develop organically inside/or require
skills/hires from outside

8. Contents of the Hudson Gain CSO Study
 Going Green? Don't Hire a Sustainability Chief
Until You Read This Study!
http://echem.goiwx.com/downloads/HudsonGain_ChiefSustainabilityOfficerStudy08.pdf
 “Universal” CSO requirements
 Key CSO responsibilities and challenges
 Filling the role internally or externally
 Examples of Top People/Companies
 Sustainability 1.0 vs. 2.0
 Quotes
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9. Where Do Sustainability Leaders Come
From?
 Senior and middle management, or high-level
technical roles
 Almost all functions, depending on many factors
 Previous experience in another function (not
sustainability)
 Typically internal, supplemented by technical
consultants
 Some are external hires
 Builders vs. Managers, creators vs. maintainers
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10. Our Study Found CSOs from ….
 Environmental Health & Safety (EHS)
 Supply Chain
 Finance and Audit
 Human Resources
 Law Compliance
 Operations
 Public Relations and Communications
 Engineering
 Research and Development

11. Required for Sustainability Role
 Communication Clear Vision
 Technology
Passion
 Financial/ROI
Organizational
 Measurement
Respect
 Innovation Leadership
 Ethics Persistence
 Supply Chain Tenacity
 Operations/Structure Emotional
 Culture Intelligence
11 Copyright ©2009 Hudson Gain Corporation

12. Sustainability Leaders Need…
 Credibility in strategic issues
 Functional or technical
 Political/decision-making
 Negotiating internally, with suppliers
 Decision-making and execution
 Organization culture/style
 Alignment across silos/vendors
 Influence/change management skills
 Industry expertise?
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13. Positioning re: Sustainability
 Position yourself above the next candidate
 Past accomplishments in Supply Chain parallel
sustainability work
 Cost/Benefit Analysis and Cost Reduction initiatives
 Shifting to a Six Sigma or Process mindset
 Adding another business lens to decision-making
 Mobilizing workforce for added discretionary effort
 Sustainability functions adjacent to yours?
 Leverage past experience into a new career
 Should you hook your star to Sustainability?
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14. Where are you on the continuum?
Where do you fit on the Sustainability Continuum?
Reactive Individual Level Activist
Copyright ©2009 Hudson Gain Corporation

15. Transferable Skills
Past Experience/Skills Reposition for Sustainability
Cost Savings
Process Improvement
Change Management
Cross-Functional
Collaboration

16. Prepare for Interviews
 Research the company’s stand and the media
(green-washing)
 Confirm with insiders before believing either press
 Do they match with your expectations?
 Plan how to position yourself based on their stand
 After testing the water, share your position
 How did you get interested in Sustainability?
 Where have you been involved in projects?
 What impact on the triple bottom line have you made?

17. If You Are on the Reactive End…
Reactive Individual Level Activist
Think of Sustainability in terms of creating
a long-lasting organization vs. the “Green Thing”
Copyright ©2009 Hudson Gain Corporation

18. Reflection: What will you do?
 What can you do today that will help you position
yourself as:
 An active learner or early adopter in your own function
 A collaborator or change agent across functions
 Able to oversee/include Sustainability areas
 A Sustainability leader
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19. Call us when you need us!
Victoria Zelin
Senior Vice President
908 306 0272
Victoria.zelin@hudsongain.com
Hudson Gain Corporation
Five Penn Plaza, 23rd floor
New York, NY 10001
www.hudsongain.com
19 Copyright ©2009 Hudson Gain Corporation