Leadership for a Sustainable World research project

Co-sponsored by The Center for Creative Leadership (CCL), Catamount Institute and Eartheal

A research project designed to determine the qualities of leadership exhibited by those who have successfully envisioned and implemented sustainability initiatives in their organizations. This information is available to inform leadership development programs and business leaders to increase their understanding of and commitment to sustainability.

For an article about this research, Beyond the Bottom Line: Practicing Leadership for Sustainability written by Jane Norton and Laura Quinn that was published in the March/April 2004 issue of the Center for Creative Leadership's Leadership in Action, go to

Click on this link to see a pdf of the article

Quotes from several interviewees:

" I really think that an abiding sustainability leadership will not emerge until a generation of children has consciously been started down that path… and we can cultivate people who later in life will become meaningful leaders"

Greg Cumberford
Operations Director, Gaia Herbs 

"I feel emotionally connected to all the species ... my job is to be a tool of nature and not simply view nature as a tool. In every design decision I make, I ask 'Am I loving the children of all species for all time?'"

Bill McDonough, architect
McDonough & Associates
McDonough-Braungart Design Chemistry

" I think about future generations...and I believe that we have to be responsible with what God gave us - the Earth. The process has to start in your heart."

Jaime Sanz de Santamaria
Strategic analyst, The Collins Companies

"Today for Interface, sustainability is broader than before… sustainability reaches out to embrace people, processes, products, place, the planet and profits - we now know that none can long be afforded allegiance at the expense of the others."

Ray Anderson
Chairman, Interface