Abstract

“We are a sustainable company” is a statement that is increasingly made by companies in recent years and being able to make such a claim has come to be considered as bestowing a competitive advantage. Corporate sustainability entails the organization´s considering their environmental and social impacts, alongside their economic benefits not only in the short-term but also in the long-term. Organizations nowadays are constantly changing and are open to potential changes and a special type of leadership is needed to deal with the latter. As is implicit in the term itself, sustainable leadership denotes a leadership style that is carried out over the long term and that is based on acting in a fair and ethical manner with all stakeholders. This small review presents a short compendium of sustainable leadership philosophies, highlighting Avery and Bergsteiner´s framework based on bee and locust leadership perspectives. Sustainable leadership therefore needs to consider equity, environmental justice, intergenerational equity, and governance.

Keywords: Sustainable Leadership; Sustainability; Corporate leadership; Sustainable development goals