GROW: Building Environmental Legacy Through Leadership That Matters

Issue #81 - April 22, 2025

Welcome to G.R.O.W. (Guidance Redefines Our Way)!

Hello everyone! A blessed Easter to those who celebrated this past weekend. Something is fitting about moving from a season of renewal straight into Earth Day—both reminding us of the perpetual cycles of growth and stewardship that shape our lives.

Speaking of stewardship, it's one of the core values that form our organization's S.H.I.E.L.D.S. acronym: Spirituality, Health, Integrity, Leadership, Development, and Stewardship. Today, as we celebrate Earth Day 2025, we're focusing on how environmental stewardship isn't just a responsibility—it's a powerful leadership development pathway that builds transferable skills and creates a meaningful impact.

Last week, we explored accountability as the force that transforms intentions into results. This week, we're examining how environmental consciousness shapes not only our planet but also our leadership capabilities—from sustainable business practices that drive growth to community-centered conservation efforts that build lasting legacies.

Let's get to it!

Growth Spotlight

Sustainability in Professional Growth

When we think about professional development, we typically focus on skills like strategic thinking, communication, and emotional intelligence. But what if environmental leadership could enhance these very capabilities while creating a positive impact?

Research from Harvard Business School reveals something fascinating: leaders who incorporate sustainability into their decision-making demonstrate measurably stronger long-term thinking, systems awareness, and stakeholder engagement—three qualities consistently ranked among the most valuable leadership traits across industries.

Let's explore three powerful ways environmental leadership enhances professional growth:

1. The Long View: Developing Strategic Foresight

Traditional business thinking often prioritizes quarterly results. Environmental leadership, however, demands looking ahead for decades. According to Dr. Andrew Winston, author of "The Big Pivot," this expanded time horizon fundamentally reshapes how leaders approach decisions:

"Leaders who think in environmental timeframes—considering impacts 5, 10, even 50 years out—develop a strategic muscle that gives them tremendous advantage in all aspects of business planning."

This long-view thinking translates directly to improved strategic decision-making across all areas. A 2024 McKinsey study found that executives who regularly engage in long-term environmental planning demonstrate 37% better overall strategic foresight compared to their peers who focus solely on short-term metrics.

Practical Application: Start incorporating a "seventh generation" question into your decision-making process. Before finalizing any significant decision, ask: "How will this choice impact our stakeholders seven generations from now?" This simple practice stretches your strategic thinking muscles.

2. Systems Thinking: The Interconnected Leadership Advantage

Environmental leadership requires understanding complex, interconnected systems—how a change in one area impacts countless others. This system’s awareness translates directly to better organizational leadership.

Dr. Peter Senge of MIT, whose work on learning organizations has transformed leadership development, explains: "The most successful leaders increasingly think in terms of systems rather than isolated parts. Environmental challenges provide the ultimate training ground for this crucial skill."

Leaders who develop environmental systems thinking report a 42% greater ability to identify the unintended consequences of decisions and a 51% stronger capacity to identify the root causes of organizational challenges.

Practical Application: Map the ripple effects. For your next major initiative, create a visual map of all potential second and third-order effects, both positive and negative. This environmental leadership practice builds systems thinking capacity that carries over to all areas of leadership.

3. Community Integration: Beyond Traditional Boundaries

Perhaps the most profound benefit of environmental leadership in terms of professional growth is how it expands our awareness of interconnected communities. Traditional business models focus primarily on shareholders. Environmental leadership requires considering the needs of local residents, ecosystems, future generations, and a broader network of affected parties.

Dr. Rebecca Henderson, Harvard Business School professor and author of "Reimagining Capitalism," notes: "Leaders who learn to balance environmental considerations with traditional business objectives develop an inclusive community orientation that dramatically improves their overall leadership effectiveness."

The numbers back this up. A 2024 study from Stanford's Graduate School of Business found that leaders who regularly engage with environmental community interests demonstrate:

• 47% stronger active listening skills

• 39% greater empathy in leadership interactions

• 52% more innovative problem-solving approaches

Practical Application: For your next project, create a comprehensive impact map that includes non-traditional communities, such as the local watershed, air quality, wildlife habitats, or future generations. How might each be affected by your decisions? This exercise builds community awareness muscles that enhance all leadership interactions.

The Green Leadership Development Path

As executive coach Marshall Goldsmith observes, "Environmental leadership development isn't a separate track from 'regular' leadership development. It's simply leadership development that acknowledges the full reality of our interconnected world."

What green leadership practices will you incorporate into your professional growth this month?

Professional Growth Gateway

Three Essential Environmental Skills for Tomorrow's Leaders

While environmental leadership was once considered a specialty, market realities have transformed it into a core professional competency. Here are three environmental skills becoming essential across industries:

1. Carbon Literacy

The Carbon Literacy Project defines carbon literacy as "an awareness of the carbon costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions on an individual, community, and organizational basis. This goes far beyond simply understanding one's carbon footprint.

True carbon literacy involves understanding the fundamentals of climate science, recognizing how organizational activities generate emissions, developing skills to measure and report carbon impacts, and, most importantly, inspiring action to reduce those impacts across all domains.

LinkedIn's recent analysis shows carbon literacy appearing in 317% more job descriptions across all industries compared to just three years ago, with particular growth in finance, operations, and supply chain roles. Many organizations are implementing formal Carbon Literacy training and certification for employees.

Skill-Building Tip: Complete a personal carbon footprint assessment for yourself or your team, focusing not only on identifying the most significant emission sources but also on developing specific reduction strategies with measurable targets.

2. Circular Economy Design

The ability to reimagine linear "take-make-waste" processes as circular systems, which eliminate waste and continuously reuse resources, is increasingly valuable. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, job postings for a circular economy have increased by 230% since 2022, with these skills commanding an average salary premium of 18%.

Skill-Building Tip: Identify one' waste stream" in your organization that could be repurposed as a resource for another process.

3. Climate Resilience Planning

As climate impacts intensify, the ability to develop adaptation strategies that build resilience has become essential. Organizations with strong climate adaptation capabilities demonstrate 31% better business continuity during disruptions and 23% lower insurance costs.

Skill-Building Tip: Identify your organization's top three climate vulnerabilities and develop a simple contingency plan for one of them.

What makes these environmental competencies particularly valuable is their transferability—they build systems thinking, cross-functional collaboration, and innovation skills that enhance performance regardless of role. Which environmental skill will you prioritize in your professional development this quarter?

Success Spotlight

Rose Marcario
Regenerative Leadership in Action

When Rose Marcario became CEO of the outdoor apparel company Patagonia in 2014, she didn't view environmental leadership as separate from business leadership; she saw them as inseparable. Her journey demonstrates how environmental stewardship can lead to both business advantages and transformational leadership.

After leaving a lucrative career in private equity to join Patagonia in 2008, Marcario was initially drawn to founder Yvon Chouinard's holistic vision. "This idea that business can only serve one interest — the shareholder interest — is so wrong-headed. It's outdated," she explained in an interview with Conscious Company. "We're not going to have a world to live in if we continue to think that way."

Under Marcario's guidance, Patagonia pioneered regenerative organic agriculture in its supply chain, fundamentally changing how the company sourced materials. Rather than simply reducing harm, this approach actively restored ecosystems while producing superior raw materials.

The business results spoke for themselves. During Marcario's tenure:

• Revenue quadrupled to over $1 billion annually

• Employee retention increased by 37%

• Supply chain resilience dramatically improved as regenerative farming partners weathered climate disruptions better than conventional suppliers

What made Marcario's leadership particularly noteworthy was how she positioned environmental goals as drivers of innovation rather than constraints. "We have a much bigger mission than just the product that we're making," Marcario said at Columbia Business School. "I think when you do that, you have a much more inspired workforce. You have people that show up to work today, every day, wanting to fight the good fight..."

Her approach to leadership development was equally forward-thinking. Marcario implemented professional development programs aligned with Patagonia's environmental values. "We align experiences with our shared values of serving and protecting what we love. One example is that we provide environmental internships to our employees where they'll work for grassroots environmental organizations of their choice."

This innovative approach to mentorship and development created direct benefits for both employees and the more significant environmental movement. Employees developed new skills while contributing to causes they cared about, then brought those experiences back to influence Patagonia's direction.

Marcario believed that leaders develop others best by modeling values-based leadership. "Our work as leaders is to see that our practices and way of being with our colleagues can catalyze for our employees to model the values we present as a company personally."

Her comprehensive approach to leadership development included family-friendly work practices. Patagonia's on-site child development center at its California headquarters played a key role in achieving an equal split of men and women in management.

Perhaps most significantly, Marcario's environmental leadership made her company more appealing to top talent. The company received over 9,000 applications for just 16 summer internship positions, allowing them to attract mission-driven professionals who brought both passion and skills.

As Yvon Chouinard himself said, Marcario was "the best leader the company has ever seen"—high praise from a founder known for his exacting standards. Her success has proven that environmental leadership is not just compatible with business success; when fully integrated into core strategy, it becomes a powerful catalyst for both growth and positive impact.

What leadership and mentorship lessons from Marcario's approach could you apply to your leadership journey?

Community Corner

Proposed: "Leadership Through Conservation" Initiative

As we explore environmental leadership this Earth Day, I'd like to propose a potential new initiative for A Few Good MENtors that would embody how our organization could contribute to environmental stewardship while developing leadership capabilities in our mentees.

A "Leadership Through Conservation" program could pair mentors and mentees for monthly conservation service projects along the Potomac River watershed in Northern Virginia. Each project would address three dimensions central to our S.H.I.E.L.D.S. core values, particularly the stewardship dimension:

1. Environmental Impact: We could partner with the Potomac Conservancy or the Alliance for the Chesapeake Bay to restore stream buffer forests, remove invasive species, and participate in water quality monitoring along key waterways in Northern Virginia.

2. Leadership Development: Each mentor-mentee pair would take turns leading different aspects of conservation projects, practicing essential skills like planning, delegation, problem-solving, and team motivation in a real-world context.

3. Community Connection: The projects would include engagement with residents and educational components for area schools, amplifying our impact while creating visibility for our mentoring work.

This initiative would respond to feedback I've received from several mentees who have expressed interest in community service that combines environmental impact with career skill development. The Chesapeake Bay watershed, which includes the Potomac River that flows through our region, is a perfect laboratory for understanding environmental interconnectedness.

Environmental projects provide powerful metaphors for leadership growth. Just as restored stream buffer forests become more resilient over time, young leaders develop adaptability through overcoming challenges. The visible transformation of a neglected shoreline also provides tangible evidence of what dedicated effort can accomplish—something many mentees need to witness firsthand.

Such a program could also expand our organizational reach by attracting new mentors with environmental expertise and engaging mentees who might not otherwise connect with traditional mentoring formats.

If this proposal resonates with our community, we could begin by surveying to gauge interest levels and identify potential project sites near Gainesville. I'd welcome hearing from mentors or mentees interested in helping to develop this concept further.

What environmental leadership initiatives would you like to see A Few Good MENtors develop in the future? Share your thoughts at [email protected].

Michael's Hot Take

Perfect Timing: Cutting Climate Science When We Need It Most

In what can only be described as questionable timing, last week the federal government cut funding to four of the six Regional Climate Centers nationwide, including the Midwest Regional Climate Center at Purdue University. I'm sure there's a reasonable explanation for dismantling essential climate services during Earth Day week, right when we're having national conversations about environmental leadership. I just haven't heard it yet.

These centers aren't abstract academic entities—they provide practical tools that farmers, meteorologists, city planners, and emergency managers rely on daily. The MRCC's Flash Drought Risk tool that alerts farmers to impending drought conditions? Gone. Historical weather data that helps meteorologists tell you whether today's weather is truly unusual? Inaccessible. Soil temperature and evaporation monitoring that guides planting decisions? Vanished.

As I write this, farmers across the Midwest are making planting decisions without access to the tools they have come to depend on. Meteorologists are trying to provide context for weather events without their usual data sources. And ironically, all this is happening as we collectively celebrate Earth Day and talk about environmental stewardship.

Gabe Filippelli from Indiana University put it well when he said this is "like burning all the books in a library, but even worse because U.S. taxpayers paid for all those books, then the government decided to burn them." I couldn't have said it better myself.

The most puzzling part? These climate centers aren't partisan political entities—they're scientific resources that provide objective data to benefit everyone. The hardiness zone maps that tell you what crops will grow in your region don't care about your political affiliation. The drought monitoring tools don't collect data differently depending on who's in office.

For those of us committed to developing environmental leaders, this situation presents a teaching moment. How do we address environmental challenges while systematically removing the very tools designed to help us understand them? It's like trying to navigate unfamiliar territory after someone took away your map and compass.

I believe this situation calls for a different kind of environmental leadership—one that includes standing up for the scientific infrastructure that informs all our other environmental efforts. After all, how can we make informed decisions about climate adaptation without, well, climate information?

I encourage each of you to learn more about these cuts and consider contacting your representatives. Ask them how farmers are supposed to adapt to changing growing seasons without seasonal forecasting tools. Ask how communities should prepare for increasing weather extremes without historical context for what's "normal."

Environmental leadership isn't just about reducing your carbon footprint, which is significant. It's also about ensuring we preserve our collective ability to understand and respond to environmental challenges.

Until next Tuesday, be safe, thankful, and consider adding "advocate for climate science" to your environmental leadership toolkit. Sometimes leadership means speaking up when things don't make sense.

Upcoming Events

Echo of Freedom Tour

• Date: July 2025

• Duration: 5 hours

• The Echoes of Freedom Tour is a guided journey through Northern Virginia, revealing the rich and often untold history of African American resilience, activism, and community building. This immersive experience takes participants to key historical sites, including early freedmen settlements, civil rights landmarks, and educational institutions that shaped Black history in the region. The tour connects the past to the present through storytelling, reflection, and engagement, ensuring that these vital narratives continue to inspire future generations.